A Gangsta By Any Other Color
by Deidara-Danna-sama
Summary: Steelport was just like another Stilwater. Gangs, sex, drugs, and people. But nobody said this was going to be a democracy. Now with an all out war waged, Andreaya must face down the leaders out to kill her but her guilt eating away at her conscience and her sanity, can she keep it together until the war is over? Read & Review!
1. Prologue

**A/N: **Hey guys guess what? That's right!….Another plot bunny just bit me in my ass at 1 in the morning. So what have I half-assed concocted this time? SR:TT. Considering I have this game and I ball so hard that Zombie Gat wants to find me….and probably punch me for that last time I blew him up by accident….whatever. Here you go. I couldn't help myself. Hell, I might have to play the game again to stay entirely accurate with the sequences of events. I'll try to keep this as close as possible and might skip a few boring elements and spice some stuff up…but the only crummy thing is cheats don't exist…Oh and if anybody is worried, there won't be any Mary Sue type shit here. I promise.

Welp, the Boss sounds like female voice #1 from the game, I'm just lazy and didn't feel like describing it. And there will be a few tweaks and twists to this storyline, you'll enjoy it I swear. Also the POV will more than likely rotate a lot between first, second and mostly third person narration. I'll try not to make it confusing. Pairings also, I'll just let some of them be a surprise.

So anyways you know the drill. Alcohol/drug references, profanity, sex and everything else Saints Row related that your mom would deem as inappropriate. **Mature audiences**. Let's go!

**Summary**: Steelport was just like another Stilwater. Gangs, sex, drugs, and people. But nobody said this was going to be a democracy. Now with an all out war waged, Andreaya must face down the leaders out to kill her but her guilt eating away at her conscience and her sanity, can she keep it together until the war is over?

* * *

_**-A Gangsta By Any Other Color-**_

* * *

_**Prologue: Cat and Mouse**_

* * *

"_So what do we do now, Boss?"_

_The question floated in the air much like they were. The four of them. The 'cheerleader' with the dreads with a strong fondness for booze and pot, the passionate thug beside her who hipped the question in the first place, and of course, the stoner pilot with his wife's name tatted across his clavicles._

_After all they were in his helicopter. _

_A coy smirk crossed full, glossed lips. She had almost ignored his query for a moment, too dazed in excitement over what she had achieved. Green-hazel eyes relished the sight in front of her, the fruits of her labor now hers to enjoy. _

_Stilwater lay bathed in the glow of the orange sunset, the light cresting each building's glassy rooftops, vaguely making her think of diamonds on a crown._

_**Her**__ crown of course._

_A loud rattling of gunshots rang below as the chopper hovered over the bridge connecting the sacred and pristine threshold of Saints Row to the rest of the ghetto and urbanized Stilwater. She glanced down briefly, recognizing her second-in-command still 'playing' with the cops. With an AK-47. He glanced up for a moment and flashed a two-fingered salute, before redirecting his attention back to the cops who now brought in reinforcements._

_Typical Johnny Gat._

_Her mind flashed briefly back to the sight of Dane Vogel splattered on the pavement like a puppet without strings, in front of the very doors of his own company. A 170 story plummet to the ground, only after she had blown a new hole in the deceitful pisshole that served as his mouth with a 45 Shepard. This day would mark the greatest achievement in all of Stilwater for the 3__rd__ Street Saints. _

_And it was so worth it._

_Her smirk grew even more so, though her two lieutenants couldn't see how maniacal their 'Boss' looked right about now._

"_This is our city…" Her greenish eyes lit up like a gem's and a tingle danced up her spine. All of the smugness in the world._

"_We do whatever the fuck we wanna do."_

_It was on that day that the notorious Andreaya Douglas, the "Boss", the feared leader of the purple-clad gangsters the 3__rd__ Street Saints, assassinated the leading opposition of Ultor Corporation. _

_The Saints were a force not to be reckoned with under her leadership. The grisly horror stories of gang killings and the murders of the leaders by her hand were talked about all over. The strongest gangs that had once occupied Stilwater in her absence, the Ronin, Brotherhood, Sons of Samedi; crippled and eliminated. _

_For she was heralded by the people, hated by the law, and respected among many._

_For she, only at the tender age of 16, had brought an entire city to its knees._

* * *

A dreamy sigh, a flutter of the eyelashes and the memory was tucked away in the recesses of her mind, still fresh as the day it happened. Rarely did she let herself get sidetracked so easily with daydreams, but today was too beautiful not to.

A breezy morning, cool, crisp and autumn in the air. Cloudless skies and the beaming sun. And innocent people going on with the meaningless titters of their mediocre lives.

So much room for activities.

A long sip of beer, an audible snort escaped her nose as the brown fluid washed down her esophagus. Four more sips from the tall glass, finishing it, and the room got a little hazy for a moment. It burned on the way down, nothing that she wasn't accustomed to considering she had been drinking since the age of 14. But really now…

Who knew Hennessey and vodka would taste so awful together? Hennessey was strong in the first place and a sugary Pinnacle chocolate vodka did not make this taste the way she thought it would. She wasn't originally going to finish it but she hated seeing a good drink go to waste. Besides this wasn't as bad as the time Shaundi suggested she try Jack & Coke.

No more of Shaundi's suggestions.

The African-American female set down the empty glass, the liquor giving her a warm feeling circulating through her system as she stood, clad in only sweatpants and her bra as she sauntered to the full-length mirror in the room.

Her room of course; A chic penthouse suite, set in the heart of Stilwater. The 50 inch flat screen on the far wall suspended in front of the Italian leather sofa, the king sized bed adorned with only the finest silk sheets (in a lovely royal purple shade)and a thick leopard print throw, the various couture paintings across the walls, and not to mention the view.

The building overlooked the entire downtown area, a glorious sight first thing the morning when the sun rises.

Speaking of glorious sights…

The mirror reflected this one well; Honey-brown skinned, 5'4 and slender built, a cushy set of rounded C-cups for breasts, full lips, and toned all over. A large scar on her left shoulder blade from that damned explosion years back that should have killed her, the only injury that did not go away. Her heterochromatic emerald eyes with a halo of hazel right around the pupils, enhanced with mocha eyeshadow and eyeliner flared into a wing giving her a cat's eye appearance. Then there was her thick mane of hair; ebon, wavy and long, tumbling down to the middle of her back.

Her scrutinizing gaze went to her arms; toned, firm and nicely muscled from years of fistfights. Tattoos graced both arms, her left one was an unfinished sleeve. A trail of skulls from her upper bicep all the way the down to her wrist. Significant enough to remind her of the lifestyle she had chosen (or maybe it chose her?) and the blood endlessly spilled by her hands, innocent or not. The mayhem and chaos she caused, the suffering and torture she caused to those who dared to defy her.

_The Death Bringer_.

The right arm. An eagle graced her upper arm with its wings spread wide, a constant reminder to her of the worth she'd achieved. Of the things she had done and the anguish that would sometimes torment her dreams at night. The guilt, resentment and the anger she had harbored since the accident that placed her in a coma. The friends she had lost. And those she killed to avenge their' deaths.

The pain of everything she strived to accomplish and the bittersweet rewards, but knowing the only enjoyment in life she'd ever feel would be death.

_The Liberation_.

Andreaya eyed her womanly physique, a lopsided smirk crossing her oval-shaped face. It took quite some time and some high-priced cosmetic intervention to turn her into the dame she was today. But, hey, a lot can change in six years time.

A lot.

Like, for starters?

Her taste in clothes. Gone were the baggy sweats, the jerseys, and the otherwise thuggish and sloppy articles of clothing that originally got her and her gang recognized. To think she used to be proud of it; those sports bras paired with ridiculously low-riding jeans with the neon purple elastics of a g-string flaunted shamelessly on her young hipbones, decked out all over in nothing but gold chains and jewelry. Along with the frivolous spending of 5k a week on jewelry. Shit, even gangsters have to be fresh to death at all times and it was her strictest policy to never repeat an outfit or wear the same diamond twice.

But that was in her naïve youth.

All black everything was her new favorite color and with the late September chill setting in, her new sexed-up wardrobe included many form-fitting things. Catsuits, lingerie, lacy things and some custom order rhinestone ass-less chaps from Let's Pretend. But those were just her preferences.

The same fashion changes applied to the crew. Somewhat.

Her "boys" as she adoringly called them used to sport the same shit; basketball shorts, track pants and jerseys in bright purple. Jewelry and piercings of a lesser caliber, tattoos all over. They were hood as hell, ready and waiting for orders at all times if they weren't blowing some trees or drunk off their asses. Or inconveniently nowhere to be found when she needed them.

Now?

Well…they were still hood as hell, though a bit more cleaned up as opposed to what they originally used to wear. It was in Andreaya's interests to incorporate more women into the group, mostly since the amount of testosterone in one room escalated into male-ego-driven arguments quite a lot. Mostly over sports, whose dick is bigger, bitches, and porn.

The boys ain't complaining. The recent influx of women in the gang brought in more new recruits.

But these were minor changes. The major change were that of the Saints themselves.

The Saints were a household name. The successful merger of Ultor and the Saints was the fundamental investment that Andreaya had ever made. With this, her gang developed into worldwide media sensations. Stores everywhere feature Saints merchandise, individual retail stores popping up all over town. Of course with such notoriety, the paychecks that followed were just as grand. Quite a few grand. Millions of dollars raked in daily. Yes, they had evolved into multimedia giants.

So did her lieutenants.

Looking more like a Guido than ever with the frequent spray tan sessions, Johnny Gat has caught the eyes (and vaginas) of women everywhere, mostly those delusional enough to think they could be his next Aisha. He even changed that blasted haircut he used to have and was now keeping it gelled back like a 1950's mafia gangster. But Johnny Gat was still Johnny Gat; surly, outspoken and trigger-happy. That didn't change at least.

Then there was Shaundi.

No longer was she the fun-sized, dreads wearing, college hippie chick with the friendly pussy that could pry information out of any man. Now, she was a more mature, yet still fun-sized bombshell with a modeling contract. Just slap a poster of Shaundi somewhere, and there will be horny nerds swarming the place within minutes. Guaranteed.

And of course, Pierce…well….who gives a damn.

A melody abruptly rang through the air interrupting her musings, the tune of "More Than a Woman" by Aaliyah let her know she had a text message. Andreaya glanced at the phone, a cool smile and a roll of her eyes.

'_Where the fuck are you at? Don't make me start this shit without you.'_

Typical Johnny Gat. Pushy as ever.

She hadn't forgotten about the little excursion she had ordered since that one drunk visit to Steelport. All she needed to see was the monstrous bank posted right downtown. Steelport was a two hour drive from Stilwater in shitty traffic…but she had no intentions of driving. After all it was such a beautiful day with so much room for activities.

So much room for debauchery…and the skies had plenty of room for a helicopter.

What better than a good old fashioned bank heist to get the blood pumping?

'_Calm your tits. I'll be right over.'_

She lazily hit send, tossing the phone over her shoulder and onto the bed. Now there was another dilemma causing her to furrow her shapely brows as she half-staggered to the walk-in closet. She glanced at the arsenal she'd accumulated over the years, neatly tucked away in a large trunk.

Her toys.

A beautiful assortment of guns, explosives, and melee weapons. But she had her personal favorites. The 45 Shepard was an old friend, saved her ass countless times. Yes that could come. A few Molotov cocktails and grenades never hurt anybody either…provided that they weren't on the receiving end. She never had a favorite SMG…until one day she happened upon a D4TH Blossom. Fuck that thing was beautiful and shot bullets like a dream. Oh, that had to come with her. Then the trusty K-8 Krukov. Never know when you might need the extra firepower.

However there was still the second dilemma. Andreaya hopelessly threw her hands up, kicking aside the empty duffel bag at her feet as the multitude of clothing in her oversized closet stared her down. Johnny suggested something inconspicuous…so why not show up dressed like him?

He was serious too. They started making Gat mascot suits at Planet Saints.

The tacky mascot suit was stuffed all the way in the back of the closet. For good reason. That damn bobble head gave her the creeps sometimes, even if it was supposed to be the likeness of her favorite Asian-American friend.

She donned her outfit of choice; tight black skinny jeans, a black turtleneck layered underneath a snug-fitting black leather jacket, and a badass pair of knee-high stiletto boots. A pair of diamond studs in her ears and a silvery glint of a stud in her left nostril. A Saints Fleur necklace in sterling silver glinted underneath her jacket. She slipped a black-gold, emerald cut pink-sapphire ring onto her right middle finger and huffed, drumming her black polished acrylic nails against her hips.

It was time to get going.

* * *

A beautiful day, cloudless skies…and not much of a view from inside a goddamn lobby.

Tan fingers tapped against the mahogany walls in anticipation. This was the Boss' idea and she wasn't even fucking here yet. And here he was, waiting with Shaundi who had her arms folded under her bronzered chest and this new cat proclaiming to be an actor…Josh Birk or some shit.

Though he'd never understand how the fuck this prick managed to come along for the ride, he was still there and attempting to flirt with Shaundi the entire damn time. And successfully pissing her off.

Fuck, he hated waiting.

To kill the time until Drea' showed up, he was presented with a video clip of Pierce's latest commercial filmed in Japan for the endorsement of Saints Flow. He half-smirked, Pierce was way too into that role.

Josh grinned, "Japanese commercials, the easiest money you'll ever make."

Johnny rolled his eyes reaching into the weapon filled duffel bag that had been at their feet. "Grand larceny is right up there." He picked up two GDHC's, casually looking them over and handed them to Josh. "You ready for this?"

The handsome brunette smiled twirling them with his thumbs, though he honestly had no damn idea what he was getting himself into. "Don't worry…I do my own stunts."

Shaundi scoffed, adjusting the voice modifier around her slender neck. "Look, you're just a ride along man. So don't go getting all Hong-Kong in there."

"Hey! I am a method actor." He flashed her a flirty smile, "If I'm going to play a Saint with any amount of conviction, I gotta make it real."

Johnny rolled his eyes, double-checking that his gun was fully loaded and with the glare Shaundi was giving Josh, he half assumed she was going to murder him right then and there. But like some type of godsend, the elevator doors opened and they were greeted with a big cartoonized version of himself. Just not as handsome.

"Trust me, Birk, it'll be real."

Josh blinked stupidly, looking back between Johnny and Shaundi who were now putting on the Gat mascot heads too. "W-wait…you're robbing a bank…dressed as _yourselves_?"

Johnny snorted, "Hell yeah. Who doesn't wanna be Johnny Gat?"

Josh's face lit up with a smug smirk as he slipped on the Gat head and cut the voice modifier on. Fuck this was going to be so cool! "Ultra-post-modernism? I love it."

There was no need for a grand entry, this was supposed to be a pretty standard robbery. You would think after seeing a quartet of bobble-heads waltzing into an establishment everyone would assume that something was up.

Nope.

"Do we really need to have this asshole actor with us?" Shaundi huffed, she was feeling a burning urge to castrate Josh each time she even looked at him. No, that would still be too nice. She wanted to castrate him _and_ rip out his esophagus.

"Cut Josh some slack, he's just researching his part." Andreaya chided, though she had her own doubts about the aspiring actor herself. Dude seemed about as capable of handling a gun as a hamster.

Shaundi glared back at her through her mask, "Yeah? Well I hope he signed a liability waiver."

Andreaya sighed, raising the Krukov in the air and firing off two shots causing a few shrieks of panic. "All right people…-"

Josh spastically jumped on the front desk, pointing both GDHCs at the clerks, "NOBODY MOVES, NOBODY DIES!"

"BIRK!" Johnny yelled, he was going to bitch slap the fuck out this kid. Despite being criminals, their celebrity reputation required them to be a bit 'kinder' towards civilians.

Josh flinched, "Oh…sorry…jumps his line…c-can we start over again?"

Andreaya rolled her eyes behind the mask, casually taking a seat on the front desk and brandishing the gun in a sweeping gesture. "You all know the drill. Let's get it over with."

Whereas customers were originally lined up to check their bank accounts or make deposits, now, they were depositing money into the empty duffel bag with the free bonus of a picture with the Boss.

All of this going in a very orderly fashion at that.

Josh shook his head incredulously, this was not what he envisioned when he requested to come along today. It was so routine. "You guys call yourselves gangbangers? You're a bunch of pussies!" He cocked the GDHC and pointed it at one of the tellers, a rather frail looking old woman.

"Hey! Don't be a dick! Put the damn gun down amateur!" Shaundi scolded, half ready to march over and snatch those guns right out his incapable hands.

"Aw, c'mon! This is so lame! We should be bustin' shit up like-" He glanced back at the old woman, who was now cocking some firepower stronger than his own. "FUCK!"

He ducked, just barely dodging that well-aimed headshot that blasted the face off a life-sized standee. But granny wasn't alone, apparently the other tellers had the same guns as well, and they had alerted the security too.

Dammit.

"Oh…that's different." Andreaya muttered, diving behind the receptionist desk, Johnny and Shaundi following suit. She really wanted to take off this annoying suit now, but being under heavy fire wasn't granting her any opportunities. Johnny had took a brief peek around the corner, and drew back as a bullet went sailing by his head. Security was starting to get close.

"Hey Boss, you got a plan or are we just gonna shoot all the motherfuckers?"

"That is my plan, actually."

"Works for me!" Johnny had sprung off the floor ambushing an unfortunate guard who wandered a bit too close to their hiding place, and was now using him as a shield. Shaundi and Andreaya followed his move, now returning fire and quickly eliminating the four security guards and the bank tellers.

"This is pretty sophisticated for a bank." Andreaya mused, making her way behind the counter and to the back as the others followed her lead. A set of large double doors blocked the way. Josh had stepped in front of her and attempted to kick the doors open…and fell on his ass instead.

Andreaya could feel her blood pressure rising, "Get _up_, Birk. Jesus." She braced herself as Johnny kicked the doors opened and they were met with a second wave of guards opening fire. This bank was bigger than she had anticipated. A large staircase in front of them led upstairs probably to the offices.

And all she saw were guards running down the platforms.

Johnny brushed by her, taking out two guards and grabbing another one as a makeshift shield. "These motherfuckers have military grade shit!" He shot a female guard in the face with his pistol, a splatter of blood painting the wall as she fell back. His human shield was still struggling to get free, and seeing that he had no more use for her he deftly snapped her neck as she crumpled to the ground.

Andreaya blanched, her SMGs rattling noisily as the spray of bullets caught five other guards that happened to run in front of her. The men were wearing suits and ties and yet the women were in armored lingerie and all of them had advanced weapons?

"Who the hell are we robbing!?" She yelled, running across the platforms and up the staircase, Shaundi was already there beating a guard who tried to ambush her and quickly spraying him with a hail of bullets. Josh was panting harshly on the ground, he had mostly spent time ducking and dodging.

"I-I can't breathe…" He wheezed, half-aware of Shaundi brushing by him and yanking the bobble-head helmet off of him. She and Johnny had discarded theirs as well.

Johnny stood in front of the gargantuan vault, testing the durability of the reinforced steel with a few punches. His knuckles stung a bit. "No way we're cracking this thing open."

Andreaya nodded, slipping out the ridiculous mascot suit, tossing it aside and spared a glance at Johnny who was staring at her expectantly. She smirked, her green eyes lighting up. "Time for plan B." She made a beckoning gesture towards the aspirant actor, "Birk, c'mere."

Josh eagerly ran over to her, the large duffel bag slung over his broad shoulder. "Got the tools right here, holmes!" He tried to glance back and see what the Boss was going to take out bag, but her strong grip on his arm prevented him from looking. "So what're we gonna do? Drill it?"

Johnny waved him off, "Fuck no. We blow it."

The young actor panicked, squirming around in Andreaya's grasp, "Wh-what? Not cool man!" This was seriously not what he signed up for.

Andreaya pulled out a C4 charge, securely tucking it into the front of her jacket. "Time to get to work." She chirped, tucking the SMGs into her thigh-holsters and taking her pistols instead.

The four were already running back towards the front before a shower of bullets burst through the windows that overlooked the central lobby of the bank. More guards were coming in by the second, and one of them had a RPG mounted on their shoulder. Andreaya squinted, firing off a few rounds with her pistol and successfully killing three of the advancing security. There was a quick rattle of bullets beside her, Johnny managed to take the guard holding the RPG out with his AR-55.

Shaundi crouched low beside the window, returning as much fire as possible before Birk had knelt down beside her with a lovestruck look on his face. "Shaundi, I want you to know that I love you and neither hell nor enraged security guards shall keep me away from you."

She scowled back at him, yet another burning impulse to reach out and slap his mouth off his face. "Can we just fucking focus on the task at hand here please?"

"But I need you to know how deeply I love you-"

"Goddamit shut up!"

Andreaya giggled, taking advantage of the brief cease fire and running up the next flight of stairs, there was indeed an office right overhead the vault.

Perfect place to plant the charge.

She set the charge in the middle of the floor, the timer beeping erratically as she ducked behind a cubicle, suddenly joined by Shaundi and Johnny as the explosion shook the building.

The Boss and her two lieutenants casually walked to the now gaping hole in the wall, the view of downtown was pretty nice from up here. Andreaya put her hands on her slender hips, "Great. Lets call the chopper and lift this baby outta here."

However, they'd forgotten all about Josh who was cowering underneath a separate cubicle. His blue eyes caught sight of a red button, surely this must be to call for help! "Don't worry guys! I found a way to open the vault-" His finger already lingering towards the button, "Gonna call a chopper."

Johnny glanced back in dismay, "Don't touch it!"

Too late.

Birk pushed the button and the shrill beeping of the security alarm went off around the room. Shaundi dragged her hands over her MAC made-up face, an annoyed groan escaping her glossed lips.

"BIRK! Are you trying to get us all jail time?!"

The amateur actor flinched, his blue eyes widening in terror. Jail? Going to jail would prevent him from seeing his destiny as NyteBlade and being on a Hollywood red carpet. He whimpered, "J-jail…? I don't wanna be some dude's bitch!" He panicked and ran back towards the exit.

The brunette woman glared, "Do I have to go after him?"

"Nah, forget about him, he'll be fine." Johnny said somewhat dismissively, pulling the TEK-Z 10s out of his jacket. "Besides, we're gonna have company real soon."

Andreaya looked to the sky, the unmistakable sounds of helicopters filling the air. "So how long do you think it'll take for our ride to get here?" She placed her pistols in her holsters, taking out the Blossoms again and reloading a fresh magazine.

The Asian male shrugged, "I dunno? Like…two waves of SWAT guys?" He glanced up through his tinted glasses at the ceiling, the sound of multiple choppers hovering overhead. He flashed the Boss a cool smirk, "Ready for this, Drea'?"

She grinned back at him, "Fuck yeah!"

A few cables suddenly fell down from outside the windows, black armor clad policemen now sliding down the wires and entering the building. Johnny had already started opening fire on the soldiers before a yell of "Flashbang!" was heard and the world suddenly became a white, piercing noise.

Andreaya stumbled, the high-pitched sound hammering in her eardrums, and she could see Johnny was slightly disorientated as well as he staggered back and forth before regaining his composure. She scowled, the white starting to fade out of her vision as everything started to come back into focus and she ducked to the ground as an officer opened fire at her. "Goddamit, Shaundi! You're supposed to throw the shit at them not us!"

The short brunette flinched, "Sorry!" She honestly thought her aim had gotten better over the years.

The room became a war zone, bullets flying through the air like june bugs in a swamp. The police might've had them outgunned, but they were unfortunately outmatched by the three Saints, their numbers were being reduced rather quickly.

The second wave of SWAT officers came in through the windows, Shaundi was reloading her pistol before she noticed the bulletproof shields coming towards them. About four of the men were quickly advancing towards her as well.

"They've got riot shields!"

She fired her gun, the bullets leaving small indentations in the shield, but not enough to pierce through. A few of the officers were quickly upon her, one knocking her to the ground roughly with the shield, before a spray of bullets made two of them fall.

The brunette looked up to the Boss standing over her, the bullets from her Blossoms were much stronger than her pistols and pierced through the armor. The other two guards tried to retreat, Andreaya ruthlessly gunned them down as well; one with a well aimed shot to the spine, the other to the back of his head. Green-hazel eyes quickly glanced back at her lieutenant, "You alright, Shaundi?"

Shaundi got up, albeit a bit shakily, "Yeah, I'm fine. He caught me off guard." She took out another magazine, "We're not gonna hold out much longer here though." The pair glanced back, hearing a laugh cut through their thoughts.

Johnny was still shooting and being his trigger-happy self, a maniacal laugh escaping his lips as he discarded the empty SMGs and switched to the AR-55 again. "The shit don't matter! Keep shootin' em anyways!"

Another loud whirring sound filled the air, this time much closer than before and the three saints looked up in alarm. A large red chopper was hovering outside the gaping hole blown in the wall, and was obviously not the ride they were expecting.

Andreaya snarled, "They brought in fucking attack choppers!?" She made a dive to her left, as the chopper's machine guns started to fire into the office. She aimed her Blossoms, but they made a dissatisfying _tcht-tcht _sound as she squeezed the trigger, indicating they were empty.

She cursed, diving behind a cubicle as another streamline of bullets breezed just over her head. "Gat, I'm out!" She yelled, as her lieutenant ran and crouched by her side, trading her a fresh set of his SMG magazines for her rifle magazines.

"Use mine. The fuck did your Krukov go?"

"That's out too, somebody has to cover Shaundi y'know?" She smirked at the exasperated look on his handsome face.

"When we get home, her ass is gonna be spending some extra time learning how to defend herself!" He stood quickly, returning fire back at the chopper. The bullets barely looked like they were even making a dent on the thing.

Andreaya reloaded her twin Blossoms, returning fire as well and trying to aim for the cockpit. Suddenly the chopper veered to the right and flew away. She glared, with their luck it wouldn't be gone for long.

The sounds of gunshots and bullets sailing through the air lasted a few more minutes before a second whirring sound was heard above, this time the beacon of light they had been waiting on. A few cables and hooks fell from the sides of the chopper, Andreaya abandoning Johnny's side to quickly secure them to the top of the monstrous safe.

Johnny glanced back, seeing that their leader was already in position. "Drea'! Gimme your guns!" He yelled as she quickly slid the SMGs across the floor to his feet and he tossed her his rifle along with his last magazine. "You gonna be okay with that thing?"

She nodded, reloading the gun and giving the signal to the pilot as she used her free hand to grip the wire cable. "Just hold tight, we'll be outta here soon!"

How fucking wrong she was.

She was right when she only assumed that that stupid attack chopper wasn't down for the count and would come back inconveniently. Despite the desperate battle to hang on to the safe, it wasn't long before the bank was swarmed with SWAT teams, choppers landing on the roof to dispatch more of them.

She shot, vainly trying to take down the main attack chopper that was seconds from shooting her out the air. Well she succeeded.

Kind of.

The attack chopper fishtailed violently, before it hurtled straight into her chopper, the large safe now becoming completely unsecured as she made a leap and grabbed hold of a ledge on an adjacent building. The megaton safe plummeted to the ground along with flaming chunks of debris from the helicopters as she pulled herself to safety…

And right into a circle of waiting cops with rifles pointed at her face.

* * *

Green-hazel eyes glared angrily, if looks could kill, anybody she set her eyes on would be a puddle of mush and intestines. Her wrists were painfully bound together with handcuffs, she had a headache, and she was fucking pissed.

Not to mention the fact that she was inside a damn jail. Not Steelport's jail system but Stilwater's. And then there was the goddamn police officers gripping her arms tightly, leading her towards a cell at the end of the fluorescent lit hallways. The cell door opened briefly, her handcuffs were taken off and she was promptly shoved in, almost losing her balance. Johnny and Shaundi were looking at her in surprise before she turned on her heel in anger.

"The fuck is this? We paid up this month!"

The officers looked at her with contempt, "Someone paid more." One of them sneered, locking the door and walking away.

Andreaya ran her hands through her dark hair, tentatively looking back at her two lieutenants. She was at a loss for words this time.

Johnny caught her gaze, a frown quirking the corners of his mouth. "What just happened?"

"We got arrested." Shaundi murmured, slouching against the far wall.

The Asian male shook his head, "No. To us." He stood, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Birk was right, we traded our dicks in for pussies. Seriously, movie deals…commercials? Saints name used to mean something other than body spray or some ass-tasting energy drinks."

Andreaya sighed, her green eyes empathetically looking him over, "Our brand is worth a shitload of money, though."

"Is that what its all about anymore?" He said quietly, turning away from her.

"Its always about the money."

The trio turned towards the cell doors which inexplicably opened as a group of the same guards they had fought earlier filed in. A young woman with white sunglasses on the top of her head lead the coup, her supermodel physique hidden under the dark turtleneck, black leather miniskirt and black leather boots she wore. Her dark hair was pulled back into a taut ponytail as she pursed her full lips together.

"Which is precisely why our employer wishes to speak with the lot of you."

A second woman who looked and dressed identical to the first stepped in behind her, a pair of neon pink sunglasses on her head instead.

"If you'll indulge us." she purred.

The corner of Andreaya's lips twitched, a nervous feeling coiling itself in her gut. She could always say no, but what are the chances that this would benefit her and the Saints? Or if she said yes, what if it's a trap?

She mentally warred with herself for a few seconds, her inner Saint and inner businesswoman arguing with each other. She looked back at her two lieutenants, Shaundi giving her a wary look, Johnny's face became tense.

She sighed, it honestly couldn't get any worse. Or at least she hoped she wasn't jinxing herself today. "Fine. We'll have a little sit down."

The two twins shared a smile at each other, the one in the pink glasses spoke first, "Excellent. Our employer will be delighted to hear this. Follow us, and if you try any funny business, we will not hesitate to kill you."

The Boss and her lieutenants exchanged a look, before being escorted out the prison cell. Fighting back would have made for a messy business, the guards were all armed and there wasn't much they could do with handcuffs on.

Two hours passed, and they suddenly found themselves on a plane and in front of the presence of an elderly looking gentleman, he looked to at least be in his 70's or so. His appearance boasted importance and upper-class tastes; the crisp suit which looked to be Armani and the expensive cigars on the table by his hand.

However his expression was smug, a smirk playing on his thin lips at the three upstarts in front of him. These…curs were supposed to be his competition?

Laughable.

Andreaya caught the seedy look in his eye, her hands balling into fists despite being cuffed together. "Do you have any idea who you're fucking with?" She spat out angrily, her jaded eyes narrowing.

"Yes…" He spoke with a heavy accent, presumably French, as the twins materialized at his sides. The twin with the pink glasses deposited a mini-Gat bobble head on the table as he smirked. "A remarkable likeness."

He leaned back in the large chair, his smirk growing at the three irate faces in front of him. "These visions are Viola and Kiki, and I am Phillipe Loren the owner of the multinational organization known as the Syndicate."

Shaundi snorted at him, "Never heard of it."

He raised a brow, "Obviously not, otherwise you would not have tried to rob our bank." He produced a cigar and a lighter, blowing a trail of smoke into the air. "I am giving you the chance to leverage your assets versus your lives."

A pie chart appeared on the wall from the projector in the ceiling, most of the pie was pink, only a small portion was purple. Viola adjusted her glasses, "You may continue to run Saints/Ultor Corp. as you see fit, in exchange for 60 percent of your gross revenue."

"That's after taxes of course." Kiki chimed in, her lips coiling into a grin.

Andreaya glared, "Listen here, you French _fuck_-"

Loren raised a hand to silence her, "Please. I am Belgian."

Johnny scoffed, "So go make yourself a fuckin' waffle. We're done here."

The Belgian man made a mock hurt face, "Oh…and I was so hoping we could come to a civil agreement." He nodded at one of the security guards, who promptly walked over and stood in front of Johnny. "Dispose of the rubbish will you?"

No sooner had the man drawn his pistol, Johnny lunged forward with an unreal surge of strength, breaking his handcuffs and tackled the guard to the ground. He beat the bald man's face in, his knuckles becoming bloody before he stood, facing Loren. Johnny made a grab for the old man, but Loren used the opportunity to draw a switchblade, swiftly stabbing Johnny in the abdomen.

Johnny winced, stunned if only for a second before grabbing a fistful of Loren's silvery hair and slamming his face into the nearby window, the force breaking it and causing a powerful rush of air to come in. Taking the advantage, Johnny's fist met Loren's face about two times roughly, before he finally let the man go.

"Johnny are you alright?!" Shaundi shrieked, Johnny had yanked the knife out his side and was using it to cut her and the Boss loose. She could already see the patch of blood starting to stain his shirtfront.

He snorted, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I've gotten shanked worse than this in prison." He sliced through the zip-ties on Andreaya's wrists, grabbing her hand as a wave of guards rushed out a door and started to open fire upon them. The trio took cover behind a large table in front of the door.

"There's too many of them, Boss you gotta bail!" Johnny yelled over the gunfire, he winced a bit, that stab wound was starting to smart a little. However, considering that knife was so damn small, he didn't figure Loren struck any vital organs.

Andreaya shook her head defiantly, her green eyes widened in distress, "No fucking way! Not without you!" It would take the three of them to clear out the guards, Johnny might be strong but he wasn't Iron Man.

This was suicide.

"Who's gonna fly the plane?" Shaundi shouted, her voice betraying her worry as well.

"I'll fuckin' do it, who else?" He assured her, sparing a quick glance back towards the advancing guards. "I'll just fly it back to Stilwater."

"Johnny, you can't even drive stick! How the hell are you gonna fly a plane!?"

"Details, details. I got this alright?" He looked back at those green-hazel eyes staring him down in disbelief. "Drea', you gotta go."

Andreaya's full lips quirked into a frown, she couldn't fucking believe he was doing this. But its not like she could talk him out of it either. She gripped the collar of his jacket and yanked him close, bringing their lips together in a muted passion. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, both savoring the brief moment before breaking away.

"You had better make it back in one piece, Johnny." Her gaze hardened, even though her eyes were glistening with the onset of tears. "Fucking promise me you will."

He quickly kissed her forehead, his eyes meeting her intense glare over his glasses. "I fucking promise." He gave her his signature half-smile and nodded towards the exit. "Now hurry up and go!"

Reluctantly Andreaya and her other lieutenant stood, quickly making a dash out the door through the hail of bullets. Johnny made a grab for one of the guards, punching him and taking the SMG and returning the fire as he locked the door behind them.

_You had better make it back in one piece, Johnny…fucking promise me you will._

He smirked to himself grimly, a strange feeling going through his chest. The odds had never been more against him right now, not like they never were before even from years back, but this time it was different. Something just wasn't feeling right.

Like déjà vu.

This happened before somewhere, didn't it?

* * *

Andreaya and Shaundi fought their way through the plane, towards the storage unit in the back, guard after guard falling to their feet. They had managed to snag a few guns from the bodies, and were making their way through the mass shipment of cars.

Andreaya spied a parachute, unfortunately there was only one as she quickly slipped it on. Shaundi quickly made her way to the intercom, pressing the small button.

"Johnny, we're about to jump!"

The two women paused, hearing the sound of some struggling, before Johnny's voice came through again.

"Right on, I'll see you in Stil-" A rang of gunshots cut him short, then there was silence.

"J-Johnny?" Shaundi whimpered, before the plane suddenly lurched sending them stumbling and falling over the edge. Andreaya gripped the edge of the plane, her thoughts starting to scramble in panic. She had to get back in there. She had to save him.

A car alarm sounded, and when she looked up again, a bright green Kayak was plowing her off the plane, knocking Shaundi with her.

The ebony haired woman stared up at the night sky, it felt like she was falling reverse. There was debris still falling out the plane; vehicles, flaming palettes of wood, and other miscellaneous things.

Oh and the security.

She glared in disdain, what the hell were they trying to be? Acrobat killers?

There were men, those suit and tie clad assholes, shooting at her with SMGs, one crashed right into her, attempting to shoot her up close. With a bit of a struggle, she managed to beat him off, snatching his gun as well.

Between twisting and turning and shooting, the world looked like it was moving in slow motion. It was almost like her mind was functioning on auto-pilot, and she had went inside herself.

'_What just happened here?'_

It just seemed too…surreal? Was that it?

Or maybe that's what this whole day had been feeling like. Like it shouldn't have happened. Any of it. Maybe she could close her eyes and she'd be back in her penthouse with a nice cup of hot cocoa.

Yes, that would be nice. Because Shaundi would come by, and they'd have girl talk and watch a movie. Or Pierce would call, asking if she wanted to help him decide on his next fashion statement.

Or Johnny…

"_What if I told you I don't think I'll make it into next year?"_

No.

She couldn't fucking think about that. Not now. He'd be ok. He always was. She looked down, Shaundi was still freefalling a few feet beneath her, she had to catch her and fast.

* * *

Phillipe Loren sat down at his office chair, his eye still stinging painfully from where Johnny had smashed his face into the window. Viola had given him an eye patch, he had to say it looked rather refining.

The girls pulled up a screen, two face appearing on the monitor before them as Loren spoke, "Gentlemen, negotiations with the Saints did not…go as planned."

The two figures glanced at each other before Loren resumed.

"Steelport belongs to the Syndicate. I want you to hack into their accounts and leave the Saints with nothing. They will soon understand they are not welcomed here."

* * *

This fucking hurts.

It really did hurt.

There were no words to describe how much pain he was in right now. His shoulder, his back, bleeding profusely. He couldn't even stand.

That pink sunglasses wearing bitch, Kiki or something?…She shot him up. Badly.

_Johnny! We're about to jump!_

He grunted, gripping his shoulder and slumping over. No sooner did he turn his back to let them know he was okay, this shit goes and happens. Then pussy ass Loren and his two bimbos made an escape out a side door.

Black was edging at his vision, and his breaths came out ragged and labored.

_You're not gonna die Johnny._

He smiled to himself, thinking of her and those cat-like eyes. That feeling of déjà vu he had earlier…yeah he dreamt about this. No wonder it felt so familiar. He'd dreamt this before, maybe not the same situation, but there was always this. The outcome.

Him bloodied up and hurt badly.

Dying.

The dark fog was slowly taking over his mind, and he coughed a little, more blood staining his shirt which was already drenched with blood. His stomach churned a bit from the pain, not from his wounds, but in his heart.

…_Fucking promise me you will._

"I…fucking…promise."

Then everything went black.

* * *

Here we go. I shortened this, of course considering the prologue in the game was a bit long. Its even longer to sum up and write. But yes. Review for me please, constructive criticism is loved even more.

This story as I said will cover the whole course of the game, but twisted up and warped to my liking. So yeah. Reviewers get special cookies!


	2. We're Gonna Need Guns

**A/N: **Listening to deadmau5 helps me type it seems. (Ghosts n Stuff on repeat.) But whatever, I think I can stand to update this story a little more frequently. Read & review for me pretty please and tell me what you think. Your opinion matters…and makes me feel less lame…I need to update my other stories. Hrmm.

Oh and I made a tiny goof about the POV switching. Its going to be switching between third (predominantly) and first person. I dunno why I said second. Though I was typing at 4 in the morning so that probably explains a lot…

Onwards!

* * *

_**-Chapter 1: We're Gonna Need Guns-**_

* * *

I slowly followed behind the woman in front of me, I could see she was definitely not in a mood to be fucked with. Her fists were clenched, she was gritting her teeth and her greenish eyes were glazed over with a murderous look.

She was livid.

She had every reason to be.

We just landed in the stinky, murky, dismal streets of Steelport, and were greeted with an upsetting set of predicaments.

First of all, we were flat out broke.

A pit-stop at a random ATM we found gave us the lovely memo. That pig Loren managed to find some way to hack into our bank accounts, every single dollar that was in them completely gone.

Secondly, we had no clue where we had just landed. We were trudging along under an overpass, walking through a throng of hookers, prostitutes and homeless people. The red neon lights, porn advertisements, shady looking peep show buildings and rinky-dink strip clubs suggested this was a red light district.

I flipped off some random fat ho in a leopard print coat. We were getting whistled at and cat calls made at us as we walked by. But I honestly don't think any of these people recognized who the hell we even were.

But the worst of it all…

Johnny was gone.

My throat got tight each and every second that god awful moment replayed itself in my head. That last moment hearing him speak before we fell off the plane and abandoned him.

At least to me, it felt like we abandoned him. The thought just made me so sick, I felt like I could fucking scream.

'_How could we leave him like that?' _My mind raced over and over, trying to think of all possible outcomes that could fix this. I wanted to shake someone, beat them even, and I found my anger bubbling at the sight of her.

The Boss.

Maybe I was being really irrational. Yeah, maybe I was. But…she _kissed_ him.

I had never seen them like that before. Ever. Not even so much of a hint of romantic affection through all the years I've known them. Maybe she did it cuz' she was caught up in the moment.

Maybe?

I inhaled sharply, the city smog, the cold, late September air and the smoke from a burning barrel nearby filling my nostrils. I wanted to scream at her. Ask her why the fuck did this happen. Why we didn't turn back…but I know better than to try and spark her ire, especially when she's mad.

My stomach felt like it was in a knot, giving me the shaky sensation that I might vomit. My hands felt sweaty, and my knees were still shaking from freefalling for a couple thousand feet, even though the Boss had saved my ass. But I forced it down, my anger was overriding my uneasiness.

That asshole was going to pay. Loren was going to fucking pay for what he did to Johnny. I swear with every fiber of my being.

"Shaundi."

I glanced up wearily, the Boss was staring me down. Hard. Her jaw was set and her full lips were stretched in a tense line. "Yeah, Boss?"

"Where are we?"

"Steelport. Its like Bangkok's abusive older brother."

She grunted, turning on her heel and continued to storm forward, her dark hair swishing across her shoulders. "Fuckin' figures. You been here before or something?"

I thought back briefly, my weekend here with my ex-boyfriend Dylan when I was finishing up my sophomore year at Stilwater University. "Spring break."

She paused, pushing a rather anorexic looking girl out of her way. Her jade eyes caught mine in a serious stare. "So, I take it you can navigate us out of here?"

I blinked, "But you've been here before too…you don't remember?"

Her eyes hardened over like an iceberg and her nostrils flared. I'll take that as a no.

I shook my head, feeling a tad self-conscious under her direct stare. "I…uh, was _really _stoned the last time I was here." I internally cringed at her audible, disappointed sigh. She had convinced me to stop smoking pot so much, it used to be a bad habit of mine. Even when I was first recruited, I was stoned at least a good 95 percent of the time.

That was also the reason why she didn't trust me much, or at least trust me on missions by myself for a while.

"That's not helpful." She murmured, looking to the ground briefly before continuing on ahead of me. I could see a small car parked ahead of us in the middle of the alley.

"Well, look…" I bit my lip, I instinctively wanted to call her by her real name. But I forgot. Only Johnny held that privilege. "It'll come to me, ok…let's just grab a car and drive around."

She was already making her way to the driver's side of the little grey Neuron, punching out the window and unlocking the doors as I got in. She produced a small pocketknife from her jeans, mumbling a few curses as she tried to hotwire the vehicle.

I squinted at it discreetly, I wasn't sure whether it was hers or if it was the same one that Loren stabbed Johnny with. I also figured I shouldn't ask.

The car was silent but there was tension hanging in the air. I was fidgeting with the hemline of my purple leggings, "So…uh, you have a plan?"

The car engine jerked to life as she sighed, a miffed expression appearing on her face. "First thing's first, let Pierce know where we are and what happened." She placed her right hand on the steering wheel, the ring on her finger glimmering from the street lights.

"Secondly…we need guns."

I was furiously texting, but her tone had changed entirely causing me to look back up at her. It came out like a smooth purr, but it sounded dark. Devious even.

She had an idea of sorts, I was certain.

"Well…if there's a Friendly Fire around here, maybe we could buy some guns there?"

She shot me a look, "We don't have enough money on our persons to get ourselves guns along with guns for the crew." She pulled out onto the street, stopping as the light at the intersection turned red. She took that brief moment to use the GPS on her phone before setting it in the cup-holder.

I frowned, "But Boss, we barely have money in general. How the hell are we going to get guns or any of that at all?"

She jammed her foot on the gas, taking off down the intersection and up the street. There was a smirk playing on her face, the only reason I knew was because I saw her dimples. You can always see the dimples in her cheeks when she smiles. "Well Shaundi, would you so happen to have any creative suggestions?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Why don't we just go raid a fucking armory?" I said sarcastically, but I immediately wished that had not come out my mouth.

"An armory? That's a great idea!"

I blanched, "That was a joke. Are you serious right now?"

"More serious than a heart attack." She purred, turning the car onto a side street and crossing over a small drawbridge.

"Boss, we couldn't possibly raid a fucking armory!"

She pouted, "Oh c'mon. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Well, shit, gee, I dunno, how about us getting shot?"

"Well do you have any other constructive suggestions?"

"Well…no-"

"Cuz if you want, we can just set up a prostitution ring and maybe have you turn tricks for money?" She snickered dryly, "Everybody would pay out the ass to sleep with you."

I grimaced, I wasn't entirely sure if that was a joke or if she was simply being her usual asshole self. But it certainly wasn't an option. "Alright, _fine_. We'll raid the goddamn armory."

"Atta girl." She glanced over at me with a cheeky smirk, "Pierce text back yet?"

I glanced down at my phone and nodded. "He says its going to be at least two hours or so until he can get the boys ready and get down here."

"Hunh. We're also gonna have to find a place to stay." She maneuvered the car in between a parked zimos and the solar in front of us, blowing through the red light. "You don't suppose a hotel will let us shack for free considering we're famous?"

"Highly doubt it. But…-" I suppressed a shriek and gripped the dashboard, the Boss just made a sharp turn and damn near ran six people over curbside. The car swerved through traffic, before she continued up the street as though nothing had happened. "Fuck, don't kill us!"

"Bitch, bitch, bitch. What were you saying?"

"Anyways…I have an ex who lives here…in Steelport, I mean. I can ask if we can crash at his place."

She nodded, "Make it happen."

We passed a few buildings, I was tuning in and out of our surroundings and briefly noticed a rundown loft where I used to get weed. But I didn't need her to start assuming I was back on my old habit. A little red brick building came into view, Friendly Fire, as we pulled into the parking lot.

She paused, fishing through her pockets and pulled out her wallet and taking out a folded wad of money. "…Two-fifty. How much you got?"

I fished for the money I usually kept in my bra (my leggings don't have pockets y'know) and handed the wrinkled and slightly warm set of hundreds to her. She was giving me a weird look before counting them altogether.

"Five hundred. That's enough right?"

I shrugged. "Depends one what you're getting?"

We got out the car and walked inside, there was barely anyone in there. But I should have known better, it was at least 3 in the morning anyways.

The young girl behind the counter greeted us somewhat sleepily, "Welcome to Friendly Fire, can I help you find something today?"

The Boss sauntered to the counter and slapped the money in front of the girl, "What can I get for five hundred?" Her voice was edging on a no-nonsense tone.

The girl looked at her sheepishly, "W-well, the cheapest weapon would be the handguns…"

The Boss pointed behind her, "I want the 45 Shepard. And a few clips." She craned her neck looking over the counter, "Oh, and like three grenades please?"

The cashier scrambled to get the weapons, placing them on the counter and five magazines. "That'll be four-hundred and sixty two dollars."

Boss was already loading the gun and looking it over, entirely ignoring the cashier who looked a bit pale. A satisfied smile crossed her face and she looked at me pointedly, handing me the grenades.

"Let's go, Shaundi."

We briskly walked back to the car, ignoring the few murmurs from the cluster of pedestrians passing us by. I looked back at the Boss, she was tracing over the gilded steel with her fingers, with an almost hypnotic interest.

"You sure you wanna do this?" I asked, though I already knew her answer.

She looked at me, a determined gleam in her eyes. "Yeah I'm sure." She started the car as the engine hummed to life, and for the faintest second I saw a bit of sadness cross her face.

We drove off, and I found myself looking out the windows trying to psych myself up for this. I mostly stared up at the sky, like some angel or ray of light was gonna appear and tell me everything will be okay. Yeah right.

But I kind of wanted something to tell me that. To tell me to wake up and this was all a fucked up dream. I think I just want to be disillusioned.

Maybe that will fix all this.

Before I knew it, we hit a bump and were heading down a ramp and into the armory. Security looked pretty lax, guess they weren't expecting or should I say weren't used to civilians coming anywhere near here.

But we aren't civilians.

The Boss jammed her foot on the gas, speeding right through the security gate and made a sharp swerve, coming to a stop in front of the main gates. An alarm began to sound and I could see soldiers immediately making their way towards us.

She stepped out the car and I crawled out through her side to avoid getting hit, she opened fire and shot one guard who was close enough to the gate. He fell dead and dropped his gun.

She grinned at me, "Muh freedoms!"

I rolled my eyes but I found myself smiling anyways, this woman is a total nut job.

The bullets started flying almost immediately; we took cover behind the wall, me mostly hanging behind the Boss as she pushed the gate all the way open and ran inside. I helped myself to the KA-1 Kobra that lost its owner and the magazines on his belt, fortunately for me it was still loaded.

The entire courtyard was filled with guards, and I knew it was going to be holed up kind of tight here but not like this. I shot at the glass pane of the small watchtower, the guard inside doubling over in pain from the blow to the chest. One more shot, and he was slumped over.

I heard a loud explosion and turned back to see a few guards sprawled on the ground in flames, and two others screaming and running about in a panic as their clothing was on fire. I vaguely noticed a few stacked missiles on the ground. Guess that's what happens when you take cover behind explosives.

I tossed two grenades at some of the projectiles, they immediately exploded sending pieces of shrapnel and flame chunks everywhere along with the soldiers unfortunate enough to be close by. The area was erupting with screams and yelling, most from the soldiers slowly cooking to death.

Another explosion, not by my doing but from a blazed soldier who fell into the last remaining projectile pile and blew it up along with himself.

That also effectively finished clearing the courtyard.

The boss pointed at the inside of the hangar, "We need to get inside, there should be more weapons in there."

I nodded, following her lead before another rang of bullets coming from inside had us ducking for cover again. We dived behind a stack of sandbags, we were just outside the opening of the hangar. I cursed, fumbling to reload my gun when a small puddle of red by my feet caught my eye.

The puddle of red was blood no doubt, but I gasped when I saw where it was coming from. A hole in the Boss' left arm, the crimson fluid was starting to stain her jacket.

"Boss, you're bleeding!" I said, vainly looking for something I could easily tear off my clothes to bandage her arm with.

She glanced at me confusedly, "Wha?…oh, yeah. Hunh." She looked at the hole in her arm with a bored expression. "Maybe trying to shoot up an armory was a bad idea…"

"You fucking think!?" I glared at her and caught a sheepish smile crossing her face. I keep forgetting she's usually doped up on her own adrenaline sometimes.

She brushed me off, "Whatever…it's a fucking flesh wound I'll be fine. Let's just get in there and get the stuff."

"But Boss…-"

"Shaundi," There was a bit of bite in her tone, "I said I'm fine."

I sighed, no point arguing with her right now. We silently counted and then rushed the entrance, I fired at one soldier who wasn't paying attention. He yelled in pain from the shot to the kneecap, I fired again and he fell to ground, bits of brain matter painting the pavement.

Security was much lighter in here, but I figured it wouldn't be long before they sent in reinforcements. I raided the bodies for spare magazines, the Boss was still firing away before the gunfire finally stopped. I squinted through the darkness, but I could see this place was pretty stocked. There was more than enough weapons for the crew that we could take.

I saw her running to the back of the hangar, kicking at a box of ammunition as I ran to her side. She reloaded her pistol, taking a few extra magazines and putting them on her belt as I did the same.

"Holy shit is that what I think it is?!" She whizzed past me, stopping in front of a silver briefcase that was opened on a makeshift desktop. The screen was flashing in a bright green with the outline of a radar and there was a small keyboard.

I blinked, "That's a reaper drone. Why the hell do they have one of these?"

She squealed in delight, "Who gives a hell? Its mine now!" She paused, turning and giving me a quizzical look. "How'd you know what this was?"

I smirked, "I do my research."

She grinned back at me, "Shaundi, have you been holding out on me?"

I started to answer but a group of voices from outside caught our attention. I crept to the front, taking cover behind a small desk and scowled. They sent in the reinforcements alright, and it was the damned SWAT team, riot shields included of course.

"We've got company!" I yelled back at the Boss who cursed, and was running up to me. I looked back and a small canister had suddenly clattered to the ground in front of us, rolling to a stop.

Did I ever mention how much I fucking hate flash bangs?

A lot.

The room was searing white, I stumbled and fell on my rear in my disorientated state. My head was ringing, and I forced myself to try and focus, the voices were sounding awfully close all of a sudden…

"Fuck!" I heard the Boss scream, grabbing my arm and pulling me back as she fired her pistol wildly at the entrance. The few SWAT soldiers were making their way in, riot shields protecting them.

I spied a grenade by my hand, yanking the plug and quickly tossing it to the entrance as the soldiers tried to come inside. It exploded, tossing at least five of them in the air from the blast. One soldier rushed me, I dodged this time and managed a roundhouse kick to the back of his head. He dropped the shield and the Boss shot him in the face, the bullets cracking through the protective visor.

I found my gun, trying as best I could to shoot and pick these assholes off but with our painfully limited firepower that was proving to be very difficult.

"Boss, I don't think we're gonna last much longer!"

She scowled, firing off another few rounds into the courtyard before grabbing her phone and fiercely tapping at the screen with her fingers. She put the phone to her ear, "Pierce, where the fuck are you!?"

A loud whirring sound caught our attention as we spared a glance outside at a collective of purple attack choppers hovering over the courtyard.

"_Oh, you know me_." Pierce's voice echoed through the speaker of her phone, "_I love to make an entrance_."

The courtyard was suddenly blazed with gunfire from the choppers, whatever soldiers were out there were more than likely dead now.

I sighed in relief, seeing two choppers land in the courtyard and a few of the boys jumping out. I called to them, telling them to take as much as they could fit into the choppers.

"Ready to leave?" I said to the Boss, she was looking longingly at the Reaper Drone.

"I'm never gonna get a chance to use this damn thing." She mumbled, glancing up at the flashes of purple going by as the guys ransacked the armory.

Pierce's voice quickly interrupted, "_Boss, they're sending in tanks. I'm gonna need you to keep us covered until we can pull out."_

I sighed again, seeing her face come alight with a devious smirk before she positioned herself in front of the keyboard of the drone. I leaned back against the far wall, there was no need in even guarding her right now.

Within about 10 minutes, both purple choppers had been fully loaded with as much as they could hold, and save for the occasional random-fire missile suddenly coming down from the sky, the military was rather pressed for luck after at least eight of their tanks had been blown up.

"Boss, we gotta get out of here!" I shouted as I started to head towards the front. I looked over my shoulder, she was closing the briefcase with a grin before running behind me.

We sprinted all the way to the front gates to the waiting chopper, I smiled seeing a set of new toys already inside of it. Two AK-47s waiting to be used and a nice long string of ammo.

No sooner had we taken off, we were under an air assault, most of the enemy bullets directing themselves at our chopper. Mostly because we also decided to take a large bomb with us as well.

No pressure.

The Boss and I returned fire, shooting down chopper after chopper as plane debris and bullet shells rained down to the streets. They were pretty persistent I had to admit. I pulled out my phone as the boss continued to shoot beside me, and typed in the address to the apartment into the GPS.

We were close by.

"Pierce, my ex's place is close by! Take the plane down on the roof!" I shouted over the noise of the helicopter rotors and slowly felt the chopper begin to descend.

We landed on the rooftop of the apartment complex, the other Saints choppers landing nearby. I jumped out the chopper, my boots hitting the gravelly surface of the roof as I led the way into the building.

I came to a stop in the musty hallway in front of my ex's room, he told me he left the door unlocked. I twisted the knob to check, and it was. Within about an hour of arriving, the otherwise sloppy looking room was now loaded with various weapons, ammo boxes and equipment.

Pierce was at the kitchen table checking out the hardware, I was hunched over a stool with a pair of tweezers and gauze, plucking the wayward bullet from the Boss' arm.

"There." I said with some satisfaction as I set the tweezers aside. Fortunately the bullet hadn't gone deep into her flesh thanks to her leather jacket buffering the impact. I applied a bit of alcohol to the gauze, gently pressing it to her bicep as she hissed at the sting.

"So what do we do now?" I asked and watched her furrow her brow a bit as I finished wrapping her arm.

She sighed and looked her arm over, lightly flexing her muscles. "_You_ will go back to Stilwater, Pierce and I will handle things here."

Wait, what?

I stood up in a rage, knocking the stool I was sitting on over. "_What? _I'm not fucking going back there!"

"Girl you don't get messy." Pierce said smoothly, toying with a GDHC in his brown hands. "Let us handle it."

"Fuck you, Pierce, I'm not going back!" I snapped, my glare flickering between the both of them. "I'm doing this for Johnny!"

The room stilled over, just the mere mention of Johnny's name made the atmosphere turn tense.

I heard the Boss sigh again, she sounded tired. "Look…Shaundi, I really need you to…-"

I shook my head, "Absolutely fucking not! This is my fight too, not just yours!" I could feel a sudden wave of sadness ripping through my veins and mingling with my anger.

I was going to finish this. I swore to God that I was going to see Loren get his, and avenge Johnny. I couldn't, no, wouldn't stay behind for this.

I refuse.

I saw the Boss exchange a look with Pierce before she nodded at me, conceding. "Fine, then. But we're going to need to get ourselves organized first before we go launching an attack."

I scoffed, "How fucking organized do we need to be?"

She shot me a look, "First off, we're gonna have to get a steady income, see what gangs are in the city, get a bigger place to stay…-"

"You're worried about real estate?" I snarled, shoving a rifle into her lap. "We fucking have guns. Lets use 'em."

She gently gripped my hand, though the look in her green eyes was telling me I was starting to wear on her nerves. "_Relax_, Shaundi. We'll get Loren, I promise but everything has to be handled with tact right now. No reckless shit."

I jerked my hand from her, I could already feel the tears stinging at my eyes. I didn't want to fucking wait, I wanted results and Loren dead. I stormed into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me and slumping to the floor as the tears flowed freely.

Why did it seem like nobody was taking this serious right now?

**XXXXXXXXX**

The sounds of traffic and the obnoxious sounds of some couple in an adjacent room having sex echoed through the thin walls as plain as day. Despite the fact that it was still daytime, matter of fact, the sun had just crept up over the horizon, I was still so dead fucking tired. I had cried myself out of the events that happened in the last 24 hours, and it just left me feeling hollow inside. I was still angry, but so numb at the same time.

Emotionally dead, physically drained and just flat out fucking tired.

I glanced at the alarm clock, it read 7:27 AM and I groaned as I got to my feet. I took my clothes off, tossing on the floor in a messy pile although Robert's bedroom was already messy enough as is.

I went digging through the dresser, I usually had spare clothes here for whenever I paid him a visit sometimes. Just as I found a pair of pink boy shorts and a sports bra, the bedroom door opened briefly and I cursed loudly before seeing it was. It was only the Boss, her green eyes looking at me in surprise.

"Sorry, Shaundi. Didn't mean to scare you."

I sighed, "No…you're fine. I thought it was Pierce coming in."

"He's crashed on the couch." She said softly, closing the door and walking over the bed in the corner of the room. She flopped down and pulled a pillow over her face.

I stripped quickly, tossing my bra over my head and putting the sports bra and the tiny boy shorts on. I coughed lightly, seeing that the Boss was still fully dressed.

"You're not gonna sleep in that are you?" I quipped, as she groaned from beneath the pillow and sat back up.

"Its not like it matters, I gotta get back up in a few hours anyways." She murmured, her voice and slumped posture betraying how drained she really was.

I shook my head, rifling through the drawer before taking out a small black tank top and black yoga shorts with the logo PINK sewn on the waistline.

"Take these and go the fuck to bed." I admonished her with a glare.

She glanced at me, her mouth opening in protest before I shoved the articles of clothing into her arms. She pouted, but started to undress anyways, her clothes piled in a corner next to her shoes.

I crawled into bed, mentally cursing because it was a twin bed and remembering that Pierce was hogging the couch. I looked back at her, she had discarded her bra and was pulling the black top over her firm breasts. It stopped just above her bellybutton.

She had just slipped on the tiny shorts and secured her hair in a ponytail, heaving a drawn out sigh. Her eyes caught mine and then drifted to the bed before she scratched the back of her head. The current sleeping arrangements finally sunk in.

"I…uh, I'll just take the floor or something, ok?"

I rolled my eyes, she was being modest again. "Get in the bed."

"But Shaundi, there's no room and…-"

I stood up, gripping her arm in a swift motion and pulling her beside me. She huffed but I guess she was too tired to put up a fight which is good because I don't have the energy for it either. She never concedes this easily.

"You had better not go spooning me like you did the last time." She said, folding her arms over her chest with a mock pout.

I smirked a little; the last time we shared a bed was when I was kind of drunk and passed out in her room at the Purgatory. I had no idea she was in there, and I have a strong tendency to want to cuddle when I feel body heat. So sue me.

"No guarantees."

I crawled under the blankets, scooting as close to the wall as possible as she scooted beside me. I turned over, my back to hers as the room stilled over in silence, save for the sounds of activity outside. I yawned, all the events from this morning still burning fresh in my memory.

Falling out the plane, raiding the armory, robbing the bank, those two twin bitches, Loren and his snooty attitude, begging Johnny to not stay behind…

_I fucking promise._

"Hey, Boss?" I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper.

She made a sleepy grunt in reply, she was more tired than I thought she was.

_Why'd you kiss Johnny?_

I paused, turning back over and wrapping an arm around her slim waistline and spooning myself close to her. She tensed up for a minute then relaxed completely, and I snuggled against her warm skin.

"Mm…yeah, Shaundi?" She mumbled sleepily, she was already nodding off.

I sighed, burying my face into the curve of her neck and she smelled a little bit like vanilla and sugar.

"…Nevermind." I mumbled, closing my eyes and letting sleep take over.

It could wait another day.

* * *

Read and review!


	3. Meet The Home Team

**A/N: **Hey you guys. Glad to see you're liking this so far. I still have two other fan fictions to work on, but I'm going to try my hardest to keep them (along with this one) updated at regular intervals… Ah balls, who am I kidding. I'm doing everything in sporadic order. I'm trying here, honestly I am.

Reviews are loved as always, harsh ones included. But seriously, if its not constructive criticism, don't be a douche. That's not nice.

Onwards!

* * *

_**-Chapter 2: Meet The Home Team-**_

* * *

_The shrill sound of a missile shooting through the air ripped through the sounds of gunfire as it met its mark and exploded on contact with a bright green Churchill. A few shouts and shrieks filled the once quiet parking lot of Brown Baggers, the security alarm wailed from inside the store._

_Another 'shoom' sound went ripping through the air just as two more Churchills of equal green and obnoxious designing pulled up; the missile smashed right into the hood of the first one, blowing it up and flipping it right on top of the second causing a double explosion._

_The streets below were alive with confusion and panic, nobody saw it coming. _

_Well of course they didn't._

_The Sons of Samedi never paid attention. Especially not during the middle of the night and when totally wasted at a party store._

_Green-hazel eyes lit up with mirth as she slung the RPG over her small shoulder, taking a moment to inhale the crisp, night air and the smoke evaporating from the mouth of the weapon. _

_It was so refreshing._

"_Told you this was a good idea." she said, putting the rocket launcher at her feet and stepping away from the edge of the rooftop, mostly not to draw attention to the fact she was up there._

_A gruff chuckle greeted her ears as she turned to smile at her second in command; he was lazily slouched against the brick wall with a McManus strapped to his back and a SKR-9 Threat at his hip._

_He smirked at her, "Drea', you're outta your damn mind."_

_She turned her nose in the air, haughtily, looking back to the flaming cars below and the police now arriving on the scene. She had to admit, deciding to make a midnight smash job with Johnny was pretty interesting. Especially considering the vantage points on top of neighboring buildings created excellent bird's eye views of the city._

_Even better under the cover of nightfall._

_She giggled, flopping to the ground with a earsplitting smile across her face as she pushed an alarmingly bright lock of red hair from her forehead. _

"_I'm out of my mind," She gave him an incredulous look, "yet you came along anyways?"_

_He smiled back at her, the dark tint of his glasses hiding his eyes, "Well shit, not like I got a choice." _

_He cracked his knuckles, his smile stretching into a grin. He was also never one to turn down an invitation to go blowing things up at others' expense._

"_Nope." She perked, sticking out her tongue like a child even though she was sixteen. "Cuz I'm the boss, and you do what the fuck I say."_

_His grin grew wider, "And what if I say no?"_

"_Then I'll make you, whether you like it or not." she said matter-of-factly._

_He laughed again, the moonlight casting dark shadows over his face in an almost sinister manner, "Guess so, considering most of the shit that happens is all your fault anyways."_

_Johnny then stopped smiling at her, his jaw setting and a glare crossing his face. _

_Andreaya stared back at him in confusion, yet she knew that look all too well. That face he makes whenever he's angry. But why was he looking at her that way?_

"_Johnny…you ok?" her voice suddenly became small, and she found herself shrinking back under his gaze. He was glowering at her so menacingly, so full of…hate?_

_Why?_

"_All. Your. __**Fault**__." he gritted out, standing up straighter and stepping in front of her, his entire being looming over her like a threat. He reached out and grabbed a handful of blazing red locks, twisting her head painfully to look up at him._

"_I didn't do anything, what the fuck are you doing!?" she yelled, her fingers clawing and pulling at his wrist to free his tight hold on her hair. She couldn't get free without him ripping out a plug of her scalp in the process, and when she looked at his face again, the amount of calm that suddenly crossed it deeply unnerved her._

_He smiled at her, cheerlessly, drawing the gun from his hip and pointing it to her head. The barrel of the SMG nuzzled right between her eyes, his finger already holding the trigger._

"_You left me, remember?" he said flatly._

_Her green-hazels widened in shock, bile starting to snake up the back of her throat. What was he talking about? She never left-_

_Oh._

_The scene of being in Loren's plane played all over again, except now, instead of a building in Stilwater they were on the plane again. Instead of her being a spunky sixteen year old, now she was an adult again. _

_The wind whipped through her tresses violently, she was in the cockpit again, where they were first captured. The broken window where Johnny smashed Loren's face into allowing the strong air currents inside, the bodies of the red-clad security guards scattered around. The plane was rocking and trembling unsteadily due to the strong turbulence._

_Her eyes wearily looked back at her captor and her stomach lurched. _

_He was covered in blood; multiple gunshot wounds through his torso and one bullet had made a clean exit through his forehead, she could literally see straight through the hole. His trademark glasses were cracked and broken, his skin was pallid, and his eyes -dead, cold and unsympathetic- glowering down into hers._

"_B-but…I didn't…-" she stammered, her strength leaving her limbs and her blood running cold. "I never would've…-"_

"_You did." He said sharply, his tone accusatory and cold._

"_Johnny…please…" she wheezed out in a breath, too in shock to move._

_He squeezed the trigger…-_

* * *

Heterochromatic eyes opened with a start, the proprietress jerking out of her slumber in alarm. A cold sweat chilled her skin, her body was trembling, and her stomach was twisting with nausea. She took a few deep breaths to calm her racing heart, and heaved a long, drawn out sigh.

It was only a dream.

Her hazy mind took a few moments to re-register where she was; The flickering screen of the small TV in the tiny room met her eyes, the dingy walls decorated with gun propaganda, the musty smell and the wrinkly blankets she currently wrapped in like a cocoon.

Still at Shaundi's apartment. She looked to her side, remembering Shaundi fell asleep next to her but now the brunette wasn't there.

Her lips stretched into a frown as the realization weighed in on her thoughts.

_Still no Johnny._

She shook her head, groping about in the dark to find her phone and letting out a derisive snort at the time.

It was 2:54 PM, it was the fucking afternoon. The day was practically gone and wasted, even worse, neither of her lieutenants bothered to wake her up. Her finger went scrolling and sifting through the names in her contacts, hovering right over Johnny's name.

A part of her wanted to call him, see if he'd pick up. The other part of her was telling her she was being stupid. Of course he's not going to answer.

…_Considering most of the shit that happens is all your fault anyways._

She scowled, ignoring the shudder creeping down her spine like a spider and slipped out from under the warmth of the blankets, her bare feet making no sound against the shag carpet. She found her clothing still in the pile she had left them in, grabbing them and walking out the bedroom to the bathroom.

The living room was empty, Pierce had disappeared as well.

She entered the bathroom, spying a fresh pack of toothbrushes on the sink much to her relief, she undressed and entered the shower, the hot water steaming up the small room within minutes.

Her thoughts trailed in and out as she stood under the shower head, yet that dream hadn't left her mind. That was one of her fondest memories with Johnny, just the two of them getting into crazy shit all the time.

It was all so daunting, how quickly it went from a cherished memory to a nightmare in a matter of seconds.

It sounded so convicting…so malicious.

_You left me, remember?_

She shook her head, her heart sped up a few beats faster than its normal tempo from the unpleasant memory. Now wasn't the time for that. She scrubbed vigorously at her skin, being extra careful around the bandage on her upper left arm, before reaching for the shampoo and squeezing a generous amount onto her tousled hair.

The shower made a sudden sputtering sound before it spurted out a burst of ice cold water, making her yelp in shock and drop the bottle. She scoffed, still having the shampoo in her hair as she quickly worked to wash it all out and smoothing a glob of conditioner through it with her fingers. She quickly stepped out the shower and turned it off having finished, her hair dripping like a sodden carpet.

Within an hour she was clean, dry and dressed though her black sweater was ruined; the bloodstain had soaked through and dried over the whole sleeve, her leather jacket was the only thing that wasn't totally damaged. She threw it on over the tank top Shaundi let her borrow.

Her phone vibrated on the sink, another text message this time from Pierce.

'_You awake yet?'_

Andreaya sighed, pressing a button and putting the phone to her ear. After about four rings, it was finally answered.

"Well good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Pierce chuckled over the phone.

"Oh, shut up." She growled, fishing through the medicine cabinet for a makeup bag. "Where are you?"

"Out. Decided to do a lil' sightseeing, see what Steelport has to offer." There was a brief pause, "Also looking for some new housing."

She paused with a half-smile, "Oh, what? Shaundi's apartment isn't good enough for you?"

"Fuck no. The boys ain't taking too well to that cramped ass place either."

Andreaya smirked, finding a small, silver Clinique bag in the cabinet behind the band-aids. "Too accustomed to being a celebrity I see."

"Well shit, not my fault the world knows how to treat the Saints right." he said tartly.

She sighed again, the luxuries that came with being famous and world renown were things she both hated and loved. The posh living, being recognized and respected, the money, the power of it all -it was addictive.

Deeply addictive. For Andreaya, nothing made her day more than buying designer and couture fashion, things she had always wanted ever since she was young and broke.

The good life she dreamed of.

Yet the constant pressure from always being in the eye of the public -for their opinion could easily make or break the Saints bank accounts and reputations-, having to always look like a model before venturing anywhere, constantly being haggled by random people for autographs, even as far as children wishing to emulate her gang -that was annoying.

She frowned deeply, her life wasn't a fucking fairytale it was all a matter of chance, choices and luck.

A lot of luck.

_And maybe its finally starting to run out. _She thought grimly, with the events occurring as of 24 hours ago, it was starting to seem that way.

"Boss? You still there?" Pierce called, she was suddenly too quiet.

She blinked, nodding to herself dumbly though she knew she was on the phone. "Yeah, I'm still here…I was just thinking about some stuff."

He sighed heavily, "About Johnny?"

She looked down briefly and the nightmare she had replayed itself in her head for a minute. She mentally chased it away.

"No…yeah…you seen Shaundi?" She quipped, quickly changing the subject.

"I think I saw her this morning…" He said thoughtfully. "Something about goin' for a walk or whatever. She told me not to wake you."

"…I see." she murmured quietly.

"You still at the apartment?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Come meet me downtown at the city park, we'll catch up there."

"Done. See you there." She said, hanging up and running a hand through her tousled mane.

She unzipped the small pouch, taking out a tube of eyeliner and carefully applying the signature cat's eye to her lids that was always seen on her face. Following this up with a quick smear of lightly tinted pink lip-gloss, her bare minimum of makeup was done.

She stalked out the bathroom hurriedly, stopping briefly to grab her pistols off the coffee table and stuff them into their holsters at her hips. She honestly didn't give a damn if anyone saw them or not. Taking three magazines and slapping them on her belt, she promptly walked out the door.

The sunlight glared into her eyes even though it was still midday as she emerged from the building, the people passing by disregarded her being entirely. Maybe they just didn't care, or maybe they assumed an A-list celebrity would never be spotted in such a rundown building in the first place. Or maybe they simply did not recognize her at all.

She appreciated it though, for once, she could go unrecognized in public without the need of a silly disguise or simply dressing like a slob.

Her mind briefly recalled her to the fact that she still had no way of transportation to meet up with Pierce.

At least until she spared a glance up the street at the intersection; at the down coming ramp to the freeway there was a shiny, green Sovereign waiting at the light. Even better, no turn signal on.

She waited, patiently with a smug smile on her face as the light changed green and the car crept up towards her direction - an old man was driving- before she candidly stepped out into the street and blocked his path. She smirked at him, ignoring the blaring sounds of horns of the cars stuck behind him.

"Get outta my way, you little shit!" He cursed, though from behind his thick-framed glasses, she looked like a teenager instead of a grown woman.

Andreaya's smile grew wider, casually drawing the gun at her hip and walking to the driver's side, enjoying how the old man's mouth was suddenly hanging agape.

"Out the fucking car, and I won't paint the seats with your brains." She purred dangerously, pointing the gun at his head through the window.

He swallowed thickly, undoing his seatbelt and opening the door, and was harshly grabbed by the collar of his sweater and yanked out the vehicle. He stumbled, a bit disorientated but was unharmed as the dark haired thief assumed his spot behind the wheel of the car and slammed the door shut.

"Thanks for the ride, pops." She cooed, flashing him a wink. She slammed her foot on the gas, taking off up the street and whipped the car into a power-sliding U-turn before zooming right back up towards the freeway.

The elderly man stared, completely stunned at what he had seen. He was still alive?

Most robberies and carjackings he'd ever witnessed in his life ended with bloody fights or gunshots. But he still lived!

Unfortunately he had completely forgotten he was still standing in the middle of street, and was obstructing traffic. He also didn't seem to hear the angry woman in the blue Nordsberg screaming at him to move.

But he did feel the impact when she ran him over.

**XXXXXXX**

A cool breeze blowing from the east, a few birds chirping, and the sun was casting some shadows through the trees onto the grass and the ponds. Then there was the lack of people; small clusters crossing the bridge that went through the park, a few cars here and there, but otherwise its kind of quiet.

Its pleasant, relaxing even.

I gotta admit, Steelport don't seem too bad…y'know outside the fact that we're strapped for cash and staying at a dank apartment.

I smirked a bit, the tune of Ne-Yo's "Because of You" bumping from the speakers of the little yellow Justice I snagged earlier. Nothing like some good music to lift your spirits.

Especially with what the hell's been going on lately.

I figure with the Boss' road rage, she should be here pretty soon, hopefully she didn't get into any trouble along the way.

But then again, the Boss wouldn't be the Boss if she didn't have the cops or somebody pissed the hell off and chasing after her ass.

Yet, even when we aren't looking for trouble, trouble always seems to find us. That seems to be the one constant about being in the Saints all these years. Things are good one minute, then straight to hell the next.

I sighed to myself; the morbid shit is really not my thing, matter of fact I hate being all depressed and whatever. Being all dreary cramps my style.

But I can't help it right now.

Gat is gone.

Fuck and hell.

Fuck, getting that text from Shaundi at 3 something in the morning telling me Johnny is dead and all this other shit was bad enough. That was also bad enough to go disturbing me right out my sleep and having me haul ass to Steelport.

I wasn't really registering Gat was dead, at least not fully. It wasn't until we got to Shaundi's ex's crib, and she flat out started crying. Seeing Shaundi, the cheerleader, break down and cry just hurt my soul a bit.

That really put the nail in the coffin.

Ergh…morbid pun.

But whatever. The shit was sad.

Yeah, me and Gat were never as close as he was with the Boss, but he was still a good friend. A crazy, homicidal, gun-obsessed, trigger happy, fucking schitzo of a friend.

I miss that crazy bastard.

The only person who matches him for sheer craziness is the Boss herself. Those two were always together getting into something. So without him being here, its kind of an odd feeling.

Like having a puzzle halfway done but there's that one piece you can't find to finish it.

Its just not right.

I glanced up, the song had long since ended, but there was a bunch of shrieks and yelling that caught my attention before this dark green Sovereign pulled up in front of me.

I don't even need to guess who that is.

I smiled, letting myself out the car. "What took you so long?"

The driver's door opened, and the Boss stepped out with this smirk plastered to her face. "Decided to take the scenic route. Steelport isn't that bad once you get past the ill-mannered people and the smog."

I chuckled a bit, but I caught her green-eyed gaze fixing on the car I boosted. She hates bright things that aren't on sports cars, especially paint jobs.

"The fuck is that banana yellow thing?" she sneered, her nose wrinkling up. "You don't expect me to drive that do you?"

I scoffed, "After all the effort it took to get this little piece of shit, you're still not pleased?"

She shook her head with a smile and I groaned.

She was hard to please in general unless you have money to splurge on Balenciaga bags and Miu-Miu shoes for her.

I shrugged. I wasn't gonna make her drive it, not like she'd get in period.

"Get the fuck in the car." she ordered, already getting back behind the wheel of the Sovereign.

I did as I was told, though part of me should have asked to drive instead. This woman is a hazard on wheels, even if its just a bike.

We pulled off, and I glanced at her with a baited breath. She looked a bit tired still. Probably why Shaundi told me not to disturb her this morning.

"So…" I started, though not entirely sure how she'd react, "how're you feeling?"

She looked at me, her expression becoming slightly confused, "About what?"

"Y'know…Johnny." I muttered. I figured the worst thing she'd do would probably be to reach over and slap me.

Her face automatically went blank, "I'm fine Pierce."

It was like a robot responding on default settings. Automatic and without thinking or feeling.

I frowned, I know she's not ok but I suppose she's doing better than Shaundi considering how Shaundi flew off the handle this morning.

"I figured you'd be angrier than this, you know how you get." I said, glancing at the road as she came to a rolling stop at a light.

She snorted, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, you're always pissed off, but I figured you would've been trippin' harder than Shaundi is right now."

She shook her head, a scowl crossing her face. "Fuck you, I might be angry but like I told Shaundi, things have to be handled with tact right now."

I nodded as we turned a corner and went aimlessly driving downtown, it kind of felt like going on tour through another country.

"How long have you known Gat?" I asked, it was mostly just to keep the depressing vibe out of here.

"Since I started the gang." She responded, losing some of the edge in her tone. "He's been here forever."

"What was he like back then?"

She smiled a little, "He was the exact same way, just with a shittier haircut."

I smirked a bit, I could kind of picture it seeing as how he used to sport that weird spiky ass haircut the first time I met him.

"You think Shaundi's gonna be ok?" I asked, mostly because being all pissy and angry just isn't Shaundi. Seeing her being anything other than her usually calm, bubbly and chill self don't seem right.

The Boss paused, pulling the car over into a random parking space in front of some random building. She stared out the window blankly, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel.

"I don't know, Pierce." she said finally. "I guess…she'll be ok, she just wants revenge."

I looked at her tentatively, "Don't you?"

I didn't miss the look she returned, it was a glare but it lacked the fiery passion she always had.

"Of course." She said sourly. "Loren is gonna get a prostate exam with the barrel of my shotgun."

There was a pause before the both of us burst out laughing. The Boss is known for saying some off the wall shit, but that's raw, even to me.

She cleared her throat a little, a grin playing on her face still. "Look, Loren's gonna get his, I'll see to that myself. Just…watch over Shaundi ok?"

I coughed, giving her a sideways glance. That didn't sound like it would end too good especially with the way Shaundi's behavior was now.

She eyed me, "Pierce, I'm serious."

"I know, but, you sure that's such a good idea?" I could already feel a headache coming on from the thought.

"Yes, I'm sure." she said flatly, looking at me with that 'If-you-say-one-more-thing-I'll-fuck-you-up' glare.

I threw my hands up in defeat, "Alright, alright, no need to get hostile girl." I spotted a sly smile creeping over her face. "So why don't we go take our mind off this shit for a while?"

Her green eyes narrowed, "Suggestion?"

I smiled at her, "I know you'd love to go on a little shopping trip, seeing as your current outfit needs a tailor."

She glanced at the sleeve of her jacket thoughtfully. "I guess…but I'm kind of short on funds seeing as how I had to buy new pistols."

I grinned at her, "However, I'm not. My treat."

She visibly perked up, the Boss loves anything along the lines of freebies or someone else offering to buy something.

"I take it there's not a Leather and Lace anywhere nearby?" she said, already typing coordinates into the GPS on her phone.

I snorted, "If you wanna shop for that freaky shit, do it on your own time. Lets just head to the Planet Saints near the crib."

She huffed at me, "What's wrong with wanting a new catsuit?"

"Its fuckin' September going into October. Buy some shit that'll keep you warm."

"Oh fine." She grumbled, backing the car out the space and pulling off again. "What're you my dad?"

I grinned and rolled my eyes, reaching out a hand to fumble with the stations on the radio.

She saw me and grimaced, "Oh, no. Don't touch shit if you're not gonna play any good music."

I waved her off, "Blah, blah, blah, I don't make the damn radio stations I just pick 'em."

"Well you'd better pick a good one."

I flipped through the stations for about a minute or two, before I stopped, recognizing the tune that was playing. She recognized it too, because within moments we had already started singing together.

It was a much needed distraction, and it definitely put the Boss back in good spirits. And who said music ain't good for the soul?

Before I knew it, we were already at Planet Saints; the whole building was a big neon flash of purple and gold lights, and the Saint of all Saints statue resting right behind the sign overhead.

I looked at the Boss as she parked the car in front of the building, her eyes retained a bit of a sparkle. She looked happy again.

"Feel better?" I smiled at her, warmly, the music put me in good spirits as well.

She looked back at me with a soft smile, "Yeah…I needed that." She pushed a strand of hair from her forehead, "Thanks, Pierce."

I shoved a hand in my blazer pocket, digging around until I found the folded up wad of money and gave it to her. "Go crazy. But not too crazy."

She gave me this really childish grin, so I know she ain't gonna listen to me when she gets inside the store.

I think we should have brought some disguises or something. Maybe we should have.

As soon as we walked through the large double doors, even though there was only like five people in here including the cashier, would you believe how fast they dropped everything to greet us?

It doesn't bother me, honestly. Anything for the fans.

But the Boss usually doesn't like crowds, she grabbed the cashier and told him to just get her some clothes. He ran off stuttering happily, (he looked like a complete geek) before coming back with a plethora of folded shirts, pants and two boxes of shoes.

The Boss told me she'd be in the fitting room, she wasted no time picking something out while I was over here signing a few autographs and posing with the customers.

A cute girl with an indie look came up to me, her purple hoodie boasting the Saints logo all over. "W-would you…uh…take a picture with me please?"

I grinned at her, there was like an instant blush on her face. "Of course, I'd love to!"

She all but squealed, shoving her camera into some random woman's hands for her to take our picture. I smiled, candidly, wrapping an arm around the girl's tiny shoulders and I swear if her smile got any larger her face would probably split open.

The woman holding the camera beckoned us to get a little closer, "Ok…three, two, one…oh my god!" she screeched, dropping the camera.

I blinked, stupidly, before I turned around and realized what she was looking at.

A group of cars had clusterfucked themselves outside the store, all of them with red and black paintjobs with a star on the roof. Red-clad men and women were quickly stepping out, guns drawn. But that wasn't what the problem was; one truck, a Criminal, had pulled up, with something in it.

Something big.

It couldn't have been a man, whatever that was. It was too large too be a human but it wasn't green so I'm sure that wasn't the fucking Hulk. It was giant, muscular as hell, and so physically large that I know it can't fit in a car or anything normal sized people use.

But it could be the Hulk, you know, maybe the Hulk has a cousin. I dunno, all I saw was that thing, picking up one of the women by her head like a tennis ball, and suddenly he threw her, -legit fucking threw her- straight into the front doors.

_Hard._

She crashed through; her skull cracked on impact with the fiberglass making a disgusting crunching sound and she was left laying on the ground in a bloody heap. And now the doors were wide the fuck open.

Whatever the hell _it_ is, I know one thing. It's pissed.

"BOSS!" I yelled drawing my pistol on the inside of my blazer and preparing for whatever the hell that was. It was coming this way and was knocking over or should I say fucking steamrolling through the cars and gang members in its path.

What the fuck?

She came stumbling out the dressing room, looking confused before she saw what I saw. She dropped the clothes in her arms, mouth agape and green eyes wide.

"What…the actual fuck…is _that_!?" she screeched, grabbing her Shepards at her hips and opening fire at the behemoth stomping up the steps. It burst inside the store, its footsteps literally shaking the ground and this entire place erupted in screaming and gunfire.

I dived over the sofa on the right side of the room, just barely dodging that thing plowing me the hell over. "Shoot the thing!" I yelled, slapping a magazine in my gun and firing at it.

But I guess that was only making it more angry. Oh fuck.

"I am! Its not working!" The Boss screamed back at me, she jumped over the checkout counter as the Hulk-thing chucked a clothing rack -literally…the whole fucking rack- at her.

The store turned to hell in a hamster ball in a matter of seconds, that giant…thing was literally bulldozing anything and everything in its path. The same girl who I just posed for a picture with less than a few minutes ago, had been backhanded across the room and had crashed through one of the display cases.

She ain't getting back up either, I know.

The other customers had made an escape outside, but most of them were caught in the crossfire and were gunned down.

The Boss and I kept shooting but I'm seriously questioning what's in the water nowadays, because that thing didn't drop. At all.

It was sporting at least 20 or 30 plus bullet holes all over and it was still coming at us like a runaway train.

The only thing we could do was run through the store, ducking and evading, and the worst part was this hulking bastard was chasing us anyways! I slipped behind the counter with the Boss, she was crouched down and reloading her gun. It seemed to be the only place he couldn't us reach due to his size.

It was also the only physical barrier we had that that thing couldn't break.

"Pierce, we gotta get the fuck out of here!" she whispered sharply, that thing was still roaring and stomping around in front of the checkout.

And yes, it was _still _pissed the hell off.

I looked at her, "Fuckin' how? We can't get outta here with the Hulk's nephew cockblocking the exit!"

She clenched her jaw, "Shit, fuck and hell." She cursed, rapidly drumming her fingers against her thigh. She didn't have a plan.

We were fucking trapped.

A rang of gunshots echoed from outside again, and suddenly, the hulk-thing was stomping away from us…and back outside?

"So, I guess it has a short attention span?" I asked, and she shrugged back at me.

The Boss and I looked at each other then cautiously looked over the counter; It went back outside, and was now throwing cars every which way, the red gang that brought that thing with them were now running away from it.

What the hell?

The Boss looked at me, "Now's a good time as ever to bail!" she said, leaping over the counter and sprinting out the front doors. The gunfire erupted once again the moment she stepped out.

"No shit, girl!" I responded, following behind her as she ran straight to one of those tacky red-ass vehicles and jumped in the driver's seat through the window. I almost asked why we didn't get in the sovereign…until I saw it flipped upside down across the street.

Nevermind.

I shot some dude with a shaved head in the face, his body crumpling to the ground as I dived into the passenger seat. The ground started to tremble again, I glanced out the side view mirror and hulk-junior was stomping this way.

"Start the car, goddamit!" I shouted at the Boss, who was desperately trying to start the engine. I finally realized there were a few huge dents in the hood along with bullet holes, it would be our shit luck if this thing doesn't start.

"Got it!" She said triumphantly, the engine sputtering to life with a rumble, before the car's entire frame suddenly jerked forward violently.

"Fuckin' shit!" she screamed as the car lurched violently again, her head slamming into the steering wheel with a hard smack.

I didn't have my fucking seatbelt on, my head smacked right into the dashboard. The Boss was saying something, I couldn't really register what, before she slammed her foot on the gas and we peeled the fuck out of there.

"Lord Jesus take the wheel…" I muttered, rubbing my forehead and I could feel a knot forming under my skin.

"You ok, Pierce?" Boss asked spastically, making a hard turn sending us both leaning sharply to the left before she sped up the road.

"Yeah, yeah…I'm good…but…what the hell was that thing?" I asked, looking out the window for trouble.

"I don't fuckin' know but…goddamit!" She cursed, making a sharp swerve and just narrowly avoiding another one of those red cars crashing into us head on.

I gripped the side of my seat, reaching in my pocket for my gun before a red beam of light fixing itself on the hood of the car caught my eye. I craned my neck forward to look out the windshield, and what do I see?

They have fucking snipers in helicopters.

We were having some real shit luck today.

"Lets just get the fuck back to the crib!" I shouted back to the Boss over the gunfire and screeches of tires, that would be the only safe place we could hide anyways.

We were speeding through traffic, fishtailing and weaving in and out between cars, and amidst the gunfire, I'm certain we probably killed thirteen people along the way.

The red Infuego we snatched was on its last legs; the prior damage along with a powerful shot to the hood from the sniper which barely missed the windshield, had the whole front smoking.

The tires screeched loudly as the Boss twisted the wheel hard sending the car power sliding through the intersection, and she came to a rolling stop in front of the apartment, already fumbling with her seatbelt to get out.

I was way ahead of her, already hearing the sounds of screeching tires not too far behind and the both of us burst out the car, rushing inside the 3 story building. I damn near tripped up the stairs; I don't understand how the hell that woman can run so fast in those heels, but she beat me back to the apartment.

The moment I got inside, she slammed the door shut as I flopped down face-first onto the ratty sofa. I've never been so glad in all my life to see that dusty thing.

"Pierce."

I looked up sheepishly, the Boss was slumped on the floor against the front door, her chest heaving sporadically. "Yeah, boss?"

"I want you to do some reconnaissance on those fuckers." She said firmly, her green eyes narrowing at me.

I wanted to protest, I started to, but the look in her eyes shut me up entirely. I just nodded.

"Anything you say, Boss."

She sighed heavily, leaning her head back against the door. "And…let Shaundi know what we're up against."

"I will." I looked at her curiously, "What about you?"

She slid her eyes towards me, her jade gaze hardening over.

I know that look all too well.

That look telling me to not question what the warped gears in her mind are concocting for Loren when she gets to him.

My face went right back into the sofa cushions, the smell of week old potato chips and mustiness hitting my nostrils. My head was throbbing from the impact with the dashboard, and now these assholes just ruined an otherwise decent day.

Like I said, it never fails.

Even when we aren't looking for trouble, it always seems to fucking find us.

* * *

Here you go!


	4. Shakedown

**A/N: **Hurr…nothing to say here…derp. I have a mosquito bite on my hand and the thing fucking itches. Jesus Christ. Thanks for the reviews so far, sorry that this is so late.

Onwards?

* * *

_**-Chapter 3: Shakedown-**_

* * *

Andreaya yawned, her cat-like eyes drooping with boredom as she flipped through the channels on the TV. Nothing but commercials for Friendly Fire, Nobody Loves Me and some new game show called Professor Genki or something.

Nothing of interest and no information on that monster that attacked her at Planet Saints.

It had been two days since then.

Almost an entire week, gone.

Four days since that failed bank heist. Four days since the descent into Steelport via parachute. Two days since the monstrous attack at Planet Saints.

Five days now without Johnny…

And she was officially fed up.

Pierce was in charge of reconnaissance of the new gang they had encountered, which she was entirely certain had something to do with that French-fuck, Loren. But he seemed to be taking his sweet time about it, in her opinion, and Shaundi she had barely seen as of late besides her coming in to crash beside her in bed.

She was still pissed, Andreaya didn't have to ask.

Occasionally she caught Shaundi staring her down in some manner, out the corner of her eye whenever she was preoccupied with something. It could have been out of anger, but sometimes it looked like she wanted to ask something. Andreaya noticed, but considering Shaundi was still on edge, she chose not to ask. Mentioning Johnny at all now around Shaundi was automatic taboo.

Pierce was purposely avoiding Shaundi as well, she lashed out at him over little things lately too.

They were going to need a new place, _stat_, or else divide the room with a brick wall at the rate things were going.

Andreaya slid her eyes towards her phone, anxiously waiting for someone, anyone, to call her and give her something to do. If it was one thing she absolutely could not stand in all the world, was being idle.

Idle hands are the devil's playground, as her mother used to tell her.

It probably explained why she went on a destructive streak every so often when she had nothing better to do. Totally makes sense.

She kicked her feet up on the coffee table, her eyes aimlessly looking at the TV screen while she surfed through the channels. There wasn't even a rerun of Bobby and Amber she could watch to stimulate her mind. Steelport's variety in daytime television was rather disappointing.

This was torture.

_Click._

"_You need guns? We got guns! The American democracy states every person has a right to bear arms and shoot some ass! Friendly Fire has all your gun-toting needs -"_

_Click._

"_Whether you're a dirty little kitten or a kinky angel, you're gonna need to look the part. Shop Leather & Lace for all your naughtiest needs, gimp and dominatrix or biker babes and spandex -"_

Andreaya smirked, she needed to pay a visit there soon if she could find one.

_Click._

"_Like a hellish children's storybook, the sky has fallen in Steelport -" _

Andreaya stopped flipping the channels, instantly recognizing Jane Valderama on the screen. The woman hadn't changed at all, which was saying a lot considering how rarely Andreaya bothered to watch the news.

"_A plane has fallen into the streets of Steelport, bringing a rain of sex dolls, shrapnel, vehicles and other things into the city. The police are conducting an investigation, but so far there are no leads as to what caused this airliner to fall -"_

Andreaya's eyes narrowed in the tiniest fraction; that godforsaken plane that she had been trapped on appeared on screen, most of it totally submerged underwater aside from the nose and part of the wing.

The story was just now being released to the public apparently, that incident happened four days ago as she remembered vividly.

"_People have came and raided the unscathed parts of the wreckage, taking sex dolls and other semi-valuable items. The body count is rather low, police have not released full details on how many bodies were found, -"_

What?

"_-The investigation is still underway, but for now there are very little details about this seemingly accidental crash…-"_

Her jaded eyes widened at the screen, she completely drowned out whatever else Jane was saying. All the bodies shown were the red clad bastards she'd shot, but the crucial one, Johnny, wasn't mentioned anywhere.

Her nose wrinkled up in disgust at the dark thought creeping into her mind.

Did Loren keep Johnny's body to mock her? Or did Johnny actually escape and survive?

_I fucking promise…_

Her eyes widened and stared down her phone, her fingertips burning with a sudden impulse. She had to see. Maybe, just maybe…

Her fingers hesitantly scrolled through the list of contacts, stopping right at Gat's name. She paused again, a feeling fluttering in her chest that her best friend might still be breathing. With a baited breath, she called.

The phone automatically flew up to her ear, and she found herself gnawing at her nails nervously.

_One ring._

_Two rings._

A part of her mind began to berate herself, this was utter foolishness. Of course he's not going to answer.

_Three rings._

But what if he did? What if he was okay after all, and stuck somewhere looking for her or something?

_Four rings_.

Her eyes started stinging at the thought, but a deep sense of dread was coming into her chest as well. What if he made it and he was ignoring her?

"Johnny, answer the phone…" she mumbled quietly, tucking her knees into her chest.

_Five rings._

"_I'm sorry, the number you are dialing is no longer available, please hang up…-"_

Andreaya swore, vehemently, flinging her phone across the room as it smashed into the wall. The phone didn't break, fortunately, but at the same time, she felt as though the crude piece of technology was mocking her.

"Fuck, Johnny! Are you fucking serious right now!?" she yelled, dragging her hands through her hair and over her face in utter frustration.

She kicked over the dirty wooden coffee table, the coasters and magazines on top of it scattering over the dingy floor. She slapped the lamp off of the end table beside the couch, the bulb dislodged itself from its base and flew into the kitchen, cracking on impact with the linoleum. The tacky, dirty lampshade suffered a dent, and the end table had tipped right over with it.

She paced in her frustration, her rage, attempting to calm herself before she did anything hasty.

Anything stupid.

Her heart felt like it just nosedived straight into her stomach, and a small lump was lodging itself inside her throat. She was going to cry. She could feel those tears already burning her eyes as she took deep breaths to keep the god-awful feeling at bay.

He was fucking gone.

He really was gone now.

"_Honestly, Drea'…sometimes I wonder where the hell you'd be without me."_

_Alone._

She slouched back against the sofa, her misty eyes looking up to the chipped-paint ceiling in despair. She inhaled sharply through her nose, releasing her breath slowly as not to further the constricted feeling in her esophagus. Thick tears went streaming down her cheekbones, one after another and they refused to stop.

'_Get a fucking hold of yourself.' _She mentally scolded herself, she couldn't be doing this right now. She couldn't sit here, crying and sobbing and looking so…_weak_.

_So lonely_.

She took another slow intake of breath, wiping at her eyes with her fingertips.

'_He's not dead. You don't know for sure.' _She told herself, but it sounded less convincing than she thought it would.

Yet, it was true.

She didn't know for sure, after all, there was no mention of Gat's body. That would've automatically made headlines everywhere, especially if Jane was covering the story.

Andreaya rubbed at her eyes, taking yet another shaky intake of air into her lungs. She had to calm down, if she allowed her emotions to get the better of her, she'd be more pissy than Shaundi which would not bode well.

Things had to be executed with a clear head and her going off her emotional impulses would fuck things up.

No, she didn't know for sure and until she could be presented with concrete reality -Johnny Gat's body - she could ignore this for the time being, her feelings.

Yes, these feelings. These annoying, unnecessary feelings; the only important ones she needed were her fury and impassiveness. They were the only emotions that were tolerable right now, the only ones that kept things under control.

Everything else…just complicated things.

She didn't need anymore complications.

Andreaya sniffed a bit, bending over to clean the small mess she'd made, before her phone's melody echoed through the living room, someone was calling.

She sighed, morbidly, before walking to it and picking it up. She spared a quick glance at the now cracked screen before answering it.

"Tell me you've got something for me, Pierce." she said, trying to keep her tone straight.

"Oh yeah." He said, a bit of smugness in his voice. "Went around downtown, chatted up a few folks and did some eavesdropping and whatever."

Andreaya put her hand on her hip impatiently, "Well?"

"The red motherfuckers that attacked us, they're called the Morningstar." He said, a chuckle following. "Headed by none other than Loren, himself."

Andreaya snorted. What a pussy name for a gang. "Morningstar, huh? Guess practicality wasn't a thought when he came up with that name."

"Guess not." Pierce continued, "Anyways, from the looks of things, these assholes are crawling all over the downtown district, along with New Colvin, the northeast island."

Andreaya nodded, mutely, they covered a lot of turf which would make them her first priority to eliminate in order to secure the Saints.

"But they ain't alone from the looks of shit." He continued, "There's two other gangs as well, some neo-cyber goth motherfuckers, and some masked assholes."

"But are they all separate or affiliated?" she asked, balancing the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she picked up the coffee table.

"Affiliated I think, I had a few of the boys ride through the city to check the shit out. All of them are sayin' that these guys have that star design on their' vehicles too."

"All part of the Syndicate." Andreaya said darkly, her fists clenching.

"That seems to be the case…" Pierce murmured.

"Well, the faster we dethrone Loren's ass, the faster we can break them down from the inside out."

"Oh, I hear ya, but you already know getting to Loren ain't gonna be easy."

Andreaya sighed, Pierce forever stated the obvious. "No shit. Not like he'll walk around town with a big ass target on his back that says 'Shoot Me I'm a Cock'."

Pierce laughed, "Well that would make things hella easier. But look, I found a few ways we can set up shop for the Saints. Feel like goin' for a ride?"

She paused, thoughtfully. "Just a ride?"

"Feel like goin' for a ride and fucking some shit up?" He said, a playful edge in his voice.

Andreaya found a smirk creeping on her face, her spirits raising just a bit. "Just what I wanted to hear."

"Smooth. I'll be out in front of the apartment in ten minutes." Pierce said, and hung up.

Andreaya finished straightening up the living room, hopefully Shaundi wouldn't notice anything was amiss should she come back early. She picked up her Shepards, slapping them in their holsters and picked up a few clips from the ammo crate by the front door.

Her thoughts briefly wandered back to Shaundi, she was vaguely tempted to ask the brunette to come along. It might put her in better spirits, or it might make her lash out more.

She decided against it.

**XXXXXXX**

"So, what did you find out?" Andreaya asked, popping a Dorito in her mouth as she leaned against the hood of the deep blue Hammerhead. Pierce was beside her, a bag of pretzels in one hand and a soda in the other.

They had parked a few blocks away from the gas station that they'd stopped at for snacks at Pierce's insistence. The car was neatly tucked away in the small alley between two buildings, nobody would see them if they weren't really paying much attention.

"So, dig this." He started, his brown eyes catching her greens. "I figured we should start setting up our income before we go fucking with the Syndicate."

"Money makes the world go round." Andreaya agreed, licking the tangy salt from under her fingernail.

"Hell yeah. Steelport's got some high property value, but most of these places can bought for dirt cheap. Economic plight you know?"

Pierce took a sip of the cherry soda he'd bought, the fizz tickling at his nose. "Now, most of the places I've scoped out would make excellent fronts. All we would need are the deeds to the businesses."

Andreaya nodded, her green-eyed gaze averting to the sidewalk for a minute. "So we just buy out miscellaneous properties for sale?"

It seemed too easy.

Pierce nodded, "Basically. Regardless of the fact that these businesses might be on another gang's turf, if we start buying out the property that increases the income for the Saints."

"That also increases our turf control." She realized, stuffing a handful of chips into her mouth.

"Exactly. If we own the shit, the boys will be there to protect it." He said, taking another long sip of his drink. "And besides, we can't get fucked up in our own fronts."

Her jaded gaze narrowed, "Meaning?"

"I mean, if we were getting chased by the pigs or whatever, if there's a business we own, we can just hide out there until there until the heat's off."

He smirked, proudly, seeing her pretty face come alight with a shit-eating grin. She was _very_ pleased with his information.

"Well damn, Pierce. You've really been doing your research." she said through a mouthful of chips.

"Shit, girl, I try. But that's not all I found out." He grinned, catching her eyes sparkle with interest. "There are also some gang operations all around Steelport."

Andreaya squinted at him, her lips furling into a pout. "Gang operations, huh? Like, micromanaging drugs, money and shit like that?"

"Yup. Some of the boys peeped that shit too. If we really want to hit the Syndicate where it hurts, then we should point most of our focus on the operations."

She nodded, this was excellent information indeed. "So, that weakens these assholes, while we build ourselves up."

"Precisely. The more shit of theirs we take out, the less they'll have." He took a bite of a pretzel, "Less money, less motherfuckers patrolling, less drugs to push, less territory and that means less stress for the Saints."

"Pierce, I could fucking kiss you right now." Andreaya smirked, crumpling the empty bag of chips and tossing it behind her.

The tall male laughed, "If that's all it takes, I guess I might have to start sleuthing through shit more often."

She flipped him off with a grin, "What-fucking-ever. But there's a tiny problem to the shit you just told me."

The African-American male paused hesitantly, "What?"

"How the fuck are we going to buy out a business with no fucking money?" she snapped, her greenish eyes looking at him impatiently.

Pierce returned her stare, with a mischievous smirk. "The good ol' fashioned way of course."

His smile was already suggesting something along the lines of destruction, and old fashioned obviously implied getting back to the basics. Not a problem in her book.

Andreaya returned his smirk, her cat like eyes bright. "That sounds like a plan."

**-xxxxxxx-**

Shaundi exhaled slowly through her nose, trying to pace her labored breathing after her five mile jog through Ashwood and part of Salander. She crossed the street, now back in Brickston, her apartment was several blocks away.

She'd tried her best to not attract any attention to herself when she left that morning; an oversized hoodie over a plain white tank top, and her running shorts and gym shoes. She'd kept the hoodie up over her head most of the day, especially since the temperature dropped a lot first thing in the morning.

She hadn't intended on turning into an exercise junkie, its not like she needed it. But going for a walk or just going for a jog was the only thing keeping her busy right now.

The only thing taking her mind off her misfortunes.

The beautiful brunette took a deep breath, her lungs burning a little from exertion as she continued up the sidewalk, keeping her head low. She came to a halt at the intersection, the crosswalk light had just turned red.

She felt the urge to talk to the Boss, maybe apologize for how unruly she had been, but that apology would be short-lived until they found Loren. She couldn't wait to skewer his ass.

Yet, the other impulse to talk to the Boss about what occurred on the plane between her and Johnny, that nagged at her mind too and the brunette wasn't sure why. It was stupid, insecure and childish of her…but she was deeply curious.

It tormented her in a way.

She couldn't help the wary feeling that if she dared to ask the Boss the specific nature of that kiss, she'd be picking her teeth up off the ground. Maybe it was harmless, a final goodbye.

Or maybe it wasn't.

She shook her head as the light turned green, briskly crossing the street and continuing on her way back to the apartment.

'_What does it even have to do with you anyways?' _Her mind scoffed at her, _'Shit, that's what. Quit acting like a crybaby, for fuck's sake.'_

Her eyes dropped a bit at the thought, and she found herself biting her lower lip. But it was true.

The Boss' personal life did not involve her, after all she never spoke much of her romantic interests. She never spoke of it at all for that matter.

But then again the Boss never spoke too much of her personal life in general.

Johnny had been a bit more open about his interests and not by much, but to Shaundi's knowledge, his only love had ever been Aisha. Even he was reclusive and tight-lipped about his past.

The only ones who knew those intimate details about those two were themselves.

The Boss and Gat were close, very close…but how close?

Shaundi let out an inaudible sigh, her mind reeling on itself and she could feel a slight headache coming on.

'_What is wrong with me?'_

This was ridiculous and she was being stupid. Their' personal lives and intimacy details had absolutely nothing to do with her, not in the least if they didn't want it known.

After all, she and Gat were just friends.

Just friends and nothing else.

She turned the corner, walking a bit faster though her green eyes became unfocused, blurring a bit with tears. She wiped at her face quickly, the cool air whipping at her flushed cheeks and perspiring pores.

Why was this bothering her so damn much?

A voice called out to her, male and unrecognizable, causing her to look around before spotting some goon across the street. His entire outfit was black and neon blue with some skull motif on it, his pale face heavily made up with dark lipstick and dark liner. Not to mention the hideous skater-cut he was wearing, shaved on the sides and streaked with bright blue dye.

Nobody she knew.

"Hey love! You've got a great ass!" He jeered, waving at her. "Why don't you bring that sweet ass over here, yeah?"

Shaundi scoffed and kept walking, picking up her pace a little bit. She was used to men objectifying her as a sexual goddess, but that didn't mean she had to listen to that bullshit. He was still calling after her, making more lewd comments, but seeing as he was not getting her attention must've angered him.

"Oh, you're not gonna talk to me? Well fuck you, you vanilla-slut!" He yelled, flipping her off.

She snarled, stopping in her tracks and turning on her heel back towards that blue-haired prick. She _hated_ being called a slut. Whore was offensive enough, but being called a slut always hit a sore spot with her, mostly since back in her bohemian days she was less sexually inhibited. Even though now she was a gorgeous, classy icon, some people still couldn't look past all the people she'd slept with.

It was embarrassing, degrading even.

For fuck's sake, at least she was actually dating all the men she'd been with.

The man looked at her, a grimy smirk appearing on his pasty face as the woman approached him. He lewdly looked her over; a surprisingly pretty face sans makeup, toned lean legs and soft tanned skin that he could only wonder if it was as supple as it looked.

"Oh, that got your attention hunh, love?" He rasped with a heavy European accent.

Shaundi stopped a few feet away from him, her hands snug in the front pouch of her hoodie, one finger already flicking the safety off her handgun. She smiled at him broadly, deciding to play the innocent card.

"Yeah, it did." She said solemnly, her green eyes looking at the ground almost appearing hurt. "Why do you have to insult me and you don't even know me?"

The blue-haired douche seemed taken aback by how calm she was, he was expecting her to lash out. "Oh…uh…I dunno? Its just a habit, really."

"That's a bad habit." She purred seductively, taking a step closer. Her eyes caught sight of the gun at his thigh. Obviously he was in some kind of gang, probably correlated to the Syndicate if she had to guess.

"Yeah, it is…" He mumbled obliviously, scratching at the nape of his neck. "I…it's the whole gang thing, y'know? Requires us to be asshats and whatnot to the public."

Shaundi forced an innocent smile to her face but inside she was smirking like the devil. He was a newbie, she could tell. How cute.

"Oh, you're in a gang?" She asked sweetly, her emerald eyes sparkling. "What kind of gang?"

He puffed out his chest with a broad grin, "Deckers, love. We're an elite gang of cybernetic hackers and such."

Her eyes narrowed, "Oh, really…that's amazing. Maybe I'll join sometime and you and I can get to know each other better?" She smiled, disarmingly, the poor dupe was actually falling for it.

He smiled back at her, his white teeth nearly becoming a stark contrast to the paste-white makeup all over his face. "Oh, I'd love that, you're pretty lovely actually…you look sort of familiar?"

Shaundi smiled some more, Pierce had told her once that without makeup she looked like a plain white chick. "I get that a lot…can I get your name sweetie?"

His huge grey eyes lit up, his cheeks flushing a light shade of red and Shaundi mentally started to cackle to herself, her trigger finger anxiously tapping her Kobra.

Poor sucker.

"Well my name is…-"

He never got to finish telling her, she had already taken her gun out and shot him right between the eyes before quickly stuffing it back in her hoodie. He lay there like a broken doll, his grey eyes wide and unseeing, blood pooling under his head and she relished the sight.

"That's for calling me a slut, you sorry fuck-smear."

She smirked and spat on his face, before turning and jogging back across the street as though she hadn't seen a thing.

Shaundi made her way back to the apartment, having jogged the rest of the way, briefly noting a blue Hammerhead in the driveway maimed with some dents and bullet holes.

It was probably Pierce and the Boss' doing she was certain.

She stepped inside, shrugging the hood off of her sweaty head, her green eyes spotting the Boss lounging on the sofa with a cigarette between her lips. Pierce wasn't there, he probably went off on another errand for the Boss.

"Sup' Shaundi?" She greeted with huge grin, no doubt she went killing somebody earlier.

"Hey Boss." Shaundi smiled back, her green eyes rolling. "You know, there's a uh, busted up car out front right?"

The Boss blinked, her mouth curving into a pleased grin. "Oh, yeah. I know."

Shaundi smirked, heading towards the bathroom to take a shower.

"Oh, hey, Shaundi?"

She paused in her tracks, her green eyes locking onto the Boss' heterochromatic ones. "Yeah, Boss?"

Shaundi watched the other woman pause for a moment, as though searching for the right words. "You uh, catch the news or anything today?"

The brunette shook her head, confused. "No? I've been out jogging all day."

Why was she even asking that? The Boss never really liked to watch the news.

The dark haired woman shook her head briefly, "No reason, I was just wondering. Pierce said maybe I should start paying attention to what happens on TV and whatever."

Shaundi found a small grin coming onto her face. Typical Pierce.

"The last thing we need you to be is politically and economically informed Boss. You'd probably start telling us about how to save the environment."

She laughed a little, but her greenish eyes weren't laughing with her. "Yeah, guess you're right huh?"

Shaundi nodded and headed into the bathroom.

**-xxxxx-**

Andreaya watched as her lieutenant closed the bathroom door before face palming herself.

What the actual fuck did she even ask that for?

She huffed, taking a drag on the cigar and tapping the ashes into the tray on the table. She wanted to tell Shaundi about Gat…but maybe that would be a bad idea too.

Shaundi actually looked a little cheerful when she returned, no need to ruin the good mood right?

Andreaya sighed, catching her phone lighting up with a text message from Pierce.

'_Feel like going out tonight?'_

She wrinkled her nose a little, was he really trying to party at a time like this? She tapped at the screen quickly, her dark nails making little pecking sounds as she went.

'_Define going out?'_

A minute later came the response.

'_House hunting. Morningstar have a nice little penthouse I think you'll love.'_

Andreaya smiled, already envisioning the tacky décor that might exist within said penthouse. Yet, they needed the space, drastically. She texted back quickly.

'_You sure we'd actually be able to accommodate the boys and everything else we need there?'_

The phone lit up again with Pierce's reply.

'_Oh yeah. There's enough room here alright. So you feel like going out tonight?'_

Andreaya smirked, taking another puff from the cigarette and exhaling the thin cloud of smoke into the air.

'_Hell yeah.'_

* * *

"So what do ya think?" Pierce yelled over the sounds of the helicopter rotors, his brown eyes watching the back of the Boss' dark head. The helicopter hovered a few hundred feet in the air over the building, blending in with the night sky.

Andreaya squinted through the binoculars, zooming in on the rooftop of the penthouse with a sadistic smirk. Some Morningstar bigwigs were throwing a little party, and this was obviously one hell of a bash. Strippers and socialites galore and a nice big pool.

"Some asshole's in my pool." She half-joked, tossing the binoculars aside and securing the parachute to her back.

Ever since freefalling from Loren's plane, she still wasn't too keen on skydiving or any aerial stunts for that matter. But unfortunately, the only way in was to fall in since the elevator had a code which she would need to acquire.

"You ready for this?" Pierce called out to her as she tucked her Shepards into their holsters at her hips.

"As I'll ever be!" Andreaya shouted back, letting herself fall out the open door. The wind was beating at her face, and just vaguely as the rooftop seemed to look further away, this was striking her as a bad idea.

She could only hope that she didn't end up missing the pool or the whole damn rooftop for that matter.

The sound of hip hop started to reach her ears, she could make out the little partygoers a bit better, and the pool was starting get closer and closer.

Time for a crash landing.

She grunted sharply, yanking the string on her parachute as she sailed downwards, going seemingly unnoticed surprisingly enough. When the pool looked less than a few feet below, she unclasped the parachute, tucking and diving and hitting the water with a splash.

Faintly, there were murmurs circulating, and Andreaya vaguely wondered how drunk half these people were to not see her skydiving out of nowhere.

Pretty fucking drunk apparently.

Andreaya smirked, drawing her pistol and rising to the surface, her hair splaying about her head like tentacles in the water. She scanned the crowds quickly, looking for a fuck in red to interrogate before lunging out the water, raising the pistol high and firing off a few shots.

The result was utter panic, the partygoers were now scrambling to the exits, people bumping into each other in their confusion.

She spied a Morningstar lieutenant, looking utterly confused as strippers bumped and brushed by him, he had no clue where those shots just came from. She rushed over to him, grabbing him harshly by the collar and pressed her Shepard to his temple.

"Asswipe, give me the elevator code!" she hissed, her grip around his neck getting tighter.

"Fuck you, I don't know it!" He snarled back, attempting to grapple with her but he was amazed at how strong she was.

Andreaya smiled, her dark lashes fluttering, "Oh no? Guess I'll have to help jog your memory huh?"

Her smile turned downright devilish as she wrapped an arm around his neck as the Morningstar now noticing where the source of the commotion was, began to open fire. The lieutenant struggled with vigor, cursing in French as his comrades shot at him blindly, he had already taken a bullet to the arm and to the leg.

"Just tell me the code and I might let you live!" she yelled at him over the music, jerking him down harshly as she took cover behind one of the walls outside the pool.

"_Sacre bleu_! I already told you I don't know it!" He wailed, the pain shooting through his limbs was becoming unbearable. Andreaya's grip around his neck made it no better, she was strangling him almost.

She impassively shook her head, rolling her eyes. '_Tsk, tsk, motherfucker.'_

Andreaya aimed carefully, picking off the few guards that were outside the building, there were only about five or so anyways. She made her way past a few cowering strippers, through the pool and up the stairs, spotting a few other Morningstar coming at her with SMGs.

She squeezed the trigger at one who had popped out from behind the corner, and got a lucky headshot, his brain matter splattering onto the far wall as he fell.

Another one, a woman decided to use a stripper as a human shield, but it made very little difference to the Saints leader. Andreaya aimed her gun at the woman's feet, the well aimed shot going straight into her kneecap causing her to shriek and let the stripper go, now leaving her totally vulnerable. Another shot to the chest and the woman fell dead.

She halted at a sudden rain of bullets in her direction, forcing her human shield in front of her as he took most of the hits to the torso. One suit and tie clad douche at the top of the staircase, she aimed and shot him right between the eyes.

The lieutenant she caught was huffing and wheezing, blood trailing thickly out the corner of his mouth. She scoffed at him, releasing the hold around his neck and painfully wrenching his arm behind his back.

"So, how about that code sweetie? Or should we just prolong your death?" she asked darkly, her greenish eyes narrowing at him.

"Alright, alright!" He sputtered, gasping weakly as pain coursed through his chest and the rest of his body. "The code is 3131."

"Was that so hard?" Andreaya cooed sweetly, pressing the Shepard right between his eyes and firing, sending him falling backwards with a thick spray of blood and skull matter.

She made her way over to one of the bodies, pocketing her Shepard in its holster and taking up the TEK-Z 10s instead. Her phone vibrated in her back pocket as she quickly took it out and pressed it to her ear. It was Shaundi.

"You got the code yet?" Her lieutenant asked, Andreaya could hear the excitement in her voice.

"Yeah, I got it. I'm on my way to the elevator, just be ready when it comes."

"We will be, the guys and I are already in position, just cover us when we come in." Shaundi said and hung up.

Andreaya rounded the corner, cautiously looking about before making a dash down the hallway and to the flight of stairs descending into what appeared to be the basement. Pierce had said the elevator should be located there.

"Well fuck me." she huffed as she reached the bottom steps, there was a damned chainlink fence blocking off the rest of the damned basement. How the hell was she going to cut through that?

Her greenish suddenly caught sight of a crate, with what appeared to be little eggs stacked on top them. Little explosive eggs. Just what she was looking for.

She took four, yanking the plug off one and tossing it at the fence as she dashed midway back up the stairs. The grenade exploded with a loud _BLAM_, the air was heavy with smoke but she could see it had done its job; the chainlink fence was no more.

She smiled, her finger already on the trigger of the SMG as she made her way slowly into the dark room, a dinging sound caught her attention before she saw a mob of Morningstar emerging from the elevator in the darkness.

She ducked down behind a stack of plywood, pulling the trigger off one of the grenades and tossing it overhead as it bounced across the ground. It detonated with a satisfactory boom, a few shrill cries and curses letting her know that some of the enemy got caught in it. She repeated the motion with another grenade, this time throwing it a little further before it exploded too, a thick cloud of smoke left in its wake.

Andreaya peeked over the plywood; bodies now littered the floor, dropped weapons, a few missing limbs and blood splattered all over. A job well done in her book.

She rushed to the elevator, seeing that the coast was clear, punching in the passcode. The express elevator was the fastest way up here from the garage of the building, Shaundi and a few of the saints should already be in position.

A minute or two passed as she anxiously guarded the elevator, before a little dinging sound reached her ears again and this time a mass of purple greeted her sights.

"About goddamn time." Andreaya grinned as Shaundi emerged out the elevator, a few of the boys behind her with beaming smiles and guns ready.

"Bitch, bitch, bitch." Shaundi replied with a smirk, loading a 'borrowed' shotgun she snatched from some Morningstar pricks inside the parking lot. "Let's finish clearing these fuckers out."

Andreaya smiled, stepping aside. "Lead the way."

* * *

_Syndicate HQ, 1:35 AM_

* * *

The young male paced about nervously, this feeling in his gut would not let his mind rest. His bright blue eyes were outlined with thick liner, his lips smeared in deep blue lipstick and his outfit virtually radiating with a neon blue glow.

Loren had told him to keep an eye on the Saints activity, and so far, they were starting to worry him.

"This seems like a bad idea, mate." He said, his voice laced with a light British accent. His eyes nervously watched his comrade, who was flexing in the corner.

The other male, unusually tall and bulky from years of wrestling and years of steroid intake, stood in front of the statue of Ares impersonating the domineering finesse. His powerful frame swathed in a bright green suit, and his face hidden by an intricately designed mask.

"Relax, Matty." His deep voice rasped, yet he had not spared a glance at his younger teammate. "The Saints are nothing to worry about."

"Indeed."

The two males turned to the direction of the other voice, Phillipe Loren confidently strided into the meeting room with Viola and Kiki on his heels. He stopped and lit a cigar, pressing it to his lips.

"The Saints are nothing more than blind sight and white noise." He said dismissively, blowing a ring of smoke out into the air.

Matt looked down at his phone, he had spent time hacking some cameras after hearing about a sudden ambush downtown at one of the penthouses owned by the Morningstar.

He gulped nervously at the visual on screen, "With all due respect, sir…" He mumbled, sliding the thin technology across the table to Loren.

"I don't think white noise is no longer applicable."

Loren eyed him, before letting his gaze travel to the screen, it was security footage from a warehouse owned by the Syndicate. The Saints leader stood menacingly over one of his subordinates, executing him with a shot to the back of the head.

She looked up at the camera, and for a second, Loren felt a subconscious glimmer of fear. He felt those eyes looking directly at him, before she aimed her gun, and shot the camera too.

* * *

Whew. This was long. Next chapter will be up soon. So as always, read and review because I love you? Pretty please?


	5. Playing the Field

**A/N: **Updates may be a wee bit slower now, I just got a job. Hurr hurr. Lucky me. Bear with me here? And I was watching the trailer for SR4, Gat is supposedly coming back. I don't trust it. I'm willing to bet money he's gonna be there during the whole simulation (the supposed mind control thing) just to make up for lost time in the last game. And I bet by the end of the game when your character wins, its gonna be one of two things.

A) Fuck you, this is inception, none of this ever happened and you're right back in SR2 before the jailbreak and this was an acid-trip comatose dream.

B) Congrats you won the game, but oh, guess what? Gat's still dead. Why? Cuz fuck you that's why.

My inner pessimist is raving so hard right now I swear. Unless the game creators realized killing Gat was a total douche move and are actually _legitimately_ bringing him back, I ain't getting my hopes up. There's a high probability I'll write something for SR:IV as well, but with a few twists. Lets finish this first though…

And I realized I totally might've jumped the gun on one of the missions in the last chapter, its supposed to come after these…ah well. Ain't fixing it. This chapter is devoted to a few sub-missions.

Onwards!

* * *

_**-Chapter 4: Playing the Field-**_

* * *

The sunlight crept over the glassy rooftops, the luminescent orange-gold glow cascading from building to building like a waterfall. The warm rays reflected from the glass panes of the tallest skyscrapers, even amidst the gaudy, flashing neon signs and advertisements, Steelport was quite a breathtaking sight in the morning.

A drowsy yawn, and a cat-like stretch with her rear in the air and back arched, Andreaya lazily rolled onto her side, looking out the window with a half-smile.

The bed with its silken red sheets caressed and curled about her skin in a snug embrace, the sunlight streaming through the large windows of the room…

The master bedroom.

Aside the tacky décor and gaudy pictures and such, the place had much potential. The bedroom was large, very similar to her penthouse back in Stilwater. There was the large black leather sofa off to the other side of the room, posted in front of the 50 inch flat screen TV that dominated the entire wall. A little fireplace, a nice surround sound system, and the view.

God she loved places with a nice view.

Her bedroom was connected to the balcony, which overlooked the pool and gave her a grand view of Steelport, even from there.

The fruits of her labors last night to secure this place for the Saints was _very_ well rewarded. The place was actually much larger than she had figured.

She had taken time after clearing out the Morningstar trash, saving the penthouse from being blown up with a bomb, and mopping bloodstains off the polished black marble floors to explore.

The imposing and powerful statue of Ares was the living area's focal point, two grand staircases, a bar, an ultra-modern kitchen and dining area, a greenhouse, and for herself, an office. She'd briefly taken a peek inside the drawers at the desk; it was stocked with files and documents along with a file cabinet, everything alphabetized and in chronological order.

She didn't bother to read them, but she figured she'd make Pierce rifle through them later. Technicalities always bored her sometimes.

She smiled to herself, Pierce did an excellent job picking this place out.

She had officially declared it as the Saints new headquarters in Steelport. The crew took to this very well, even with the mod-trash decorations. Nothing a little purple here and there wouldn't fix.

Andreaya yawned again, her eyes drooping and body completely relaxed. The bed wasn't the most comfortable despite its luxe appearance, but it sure as hell beat sleeping on that musty bed at Shaundi's apartment.

Shaundi, speaking of whom, seemed to be in much higher spirits since they had taken over the penthouse. It was good, it was much better than seeing the former stoner so angry and all moody.

Pierce, of course, was too busy giving himself a pat on the back for this find, raving to the lesser saints about his achievements for the last few days. Go figure.

If Johnny were here, he'd piss a bitch about the shoddy décor, and he'd more than likely demand some renovations. Or just another place to stay altogether.

'_You left me, remember?'_

Andreaya frowned, already she could feel her mood wanting to take a proverbial dive straight into depression. Last night she was fortunate enough not to dream, but that nightmare still gave her chills every so often when her mind wandered back to it.

Not now.

Her phone suddenly rattled about noisily on the nightstand, the melodic tune of "Headlines" by Drake cutting through the otherwise silent bedroom. It was Pierce.

"Hey, Boss, you up yet? I went digging through some shit in the office and found some stuff you might like." He said, a ruffling sound in the background implied he must still be digging through papers.

Andreaya yawned sluggishly, "Yeah, yeah…I take it you're already downstairs?"

"Oh, yeah…wait you're here? I thought you went back to Shaundi's crib."

"Absolutely fucking not." Andreaya muttered, sitting up a bit and propping her head against her hand.

"Alright, alright no need to get hostile. Look, when you're ready just come downstairs, we can make some big moves today y'know?"

"Done. I'll be down in a few." She said, hanging up.

She sighed heavily, she honestly didn't feel like rolling out of bed. But the Morningstar weren't going to kill themselves, unfortunately.

Andreaya dragged herself out of bed, her bare feet padding silently across the cold, wood floors as she made her way to the closet. A few shopping bags and shoe boxes lie at the bottom with her almost-purchases from Planet Saints before they were attacked. The store manager was kind enough to ship her a few freebies of the things she had wanted as thanks for not blowing up building.

Which was lovely, considering she had picked out _quite_ a few things along with a replacement for her favorite black sweater and leather jacket.

She dug through the bags for a moment, finally settling on a black sports bra, black track pants accented with purple and white trimming on the sides, and the newest pair of Heyday Supershifts in dark purple. A pair of bright purple headphones hung from around her neck and her diamond studs were in her ears.

Andreaya exited the bedroom, the beat of "Yonkers" echoing throughout the room. Her eyes caught sight of a few rookies at the bar, drinking and chatting. She then looked downstairs, yet there was no sign of Pierce.

'_Oh for fuck's sake…why ask me to wake up and you're not here?' _She thought acidly, stalking down the stairs and flopping onto the large, black sectional sofa posted in front of the 90 inch flat-screen above. No sooner had she reached for the remote, a flash of white out the corner of her eye made her turn her head.

"About damn time." She said, tapping a finger against the remote as she eyed her lieutenant.

Pierce grinned at her, striding over and handing her a multitude of keys on a ring. "Check this out. Found this inside the desk in the office."

The Boss looked at it blankly, "Yeah, it's some fucking keys. Big whoop."

"Don'cha wanna see what it opens?" Her lieutenant pressed, giving her a serious stare.

"Depends. Is it a key to Disneyland or Al Capone's wallet?" Andreaya smiled teasingly, watching Pierce roll his eyes.

"Nah, girl. The Morningstar left us a bunch of shit, legal shit, concerning their' drug trades, prostitution rings, and even some of the shit they own." He said, gesturing towards the back room.

"Oh, how kind of them." Andreaya purred, her eyes twinkling with interest.

"Oh, it gets better. We have an official list of the Morningstar sub-operations, the exact locations and everything." He said, a smug smile creeping on his face. "And those, are safety deposit keys. Don't you wanna see what the Syndicate has locked up?"

The dark haired woman nodded, gripping the keys in her palm. "It had better lead me to Loren's sorry ass."

"No guarantees there, but, this document I found tells me that the Morningstar have a few properties that might be in need of new management."

Andreaya cracked a grin, "As long as its not a studio. I don't think the world can take much more of your poorly auto-tuned singing."

Pierce snorted, adjusting the golf cap on his head. "Why you gotta be an asshole?"

"That's my job." She replied curtly, standing up and placing her hands on her hips. "So, you have a plan to do all this shit, or are we just running in blind?"

Pierce shook his head, "Oh, yeah. I have a plan; I go in, open the safety deposit boxes and take the shit."

Andreaya narrowed her eyes, "Won't the Morningstar know you're ransacking their' shit?"

Her lieutenant nodded, taking out a GDHC from the pocket of his blazer. "Yeah, they will. So I guess you're gonna have to watch my back, huh?"

She shrugged, a grin surfacing on her face. "Am I riding with you?"

"Nope. You're taking the helicopter. Just try not to get me killed, alright?" He jibed, straightening out the collar on his blazer.

Andreaya snorted, "Keep talking and I'll do the honors myself."

Pierce laughed, walking away briefly to the dining area and beckoning one of the male saints over. He ran up eagerly, his tan face and rust brown hair hidden under a Saints cap and his brown eyes looking between his superiors in excitement.

"You need me for something, Boss?" He rasped in a deep, Latino baritone.

Pierce patted him on the shoulder, "Yeah, Boss, this is Lucius. He has a piloting license, so he'll be flying the plane."

Andreaya smirked, sashaying over to the weapons cache and taking out a rocket launcher. "Well, then. That makes my job easier. Lets get a move on."

**-xxxxxxx-**

"Suck it, motherfuckers!" Andreaya yelled, her missile meeting the windshield of a Morningstar Justice. The car exploded into a pillar of flames, careening through traffic and smashing into a few cars.

She wiped a bit of sweat from her brow with a cheeky smile, this actually didn't turn out to be a bad idea. Well, technically it could have been, especially if Pierce decided to go it alone and take a few random lesser saints for security. That would have ended badly.

The silver Oppressor sailed through the skies, periodically stopping here and there for the Boss to pick off the random Morningstar vehicles in pursuit of her lieutenant.

It was going rather smoothly, the only thing Andreaya found annoying was Pierce's driving. Honestly, in her opinion, he drives too damn slow. You wouldn't think he had a care in the world at the pace he was going, he was acting like he was on a Sunday cruise.

Sheesh.

Andreaya adjusted her earpiece, she felt like taking the thing off since the only thing Pierce was doing the whole time was complaining. But alas, someone had to make sure he stayed alive.

Too bad Shaundi wasn't here to do it.

"_Boss, they've got a road block up ahead, help me out?" _Pierce's voice crackled through the speaker, a faint screech of tires sounding in the background as he made a sharp turn.

The chopper took a gentle turn, before flying ahead of Pierce's car. Andreaya squinted at the mass in the distance; it was at least two SWAT vehicles, and a cluster of Morningstar forming a small barricade.

Easy.

She propped the rocket launcher back on her shoulder, aiming carefully before firing off a missile. It hit its targets, the vehicles flipping into the air in flames, with Morningstar goons flying with it.

"_Nice hit, Boss!" _Pierce cheered, the chopper was hovering over his purple Infuego, before his eyes caught sight of another mass in the distance. _"Fuck, another roadblock, can you -"_

He paused, seeing the missile tear through the air before hurtling straight into the hood of one of the SWAT vehicles, the chain reaction blowing the entire collective of cars up along with it.

"You were saying?" Andreaya grinned, haughtiness creeping into her tone.

"_I see somebody's in a good mood."_

"Killing people is therapeutic, Pierce. How can you not be in a good mood after blowing something up?"

His laugh crackled through the speaker before he cursed abruptly, a few Morningstar cars were now in hot pursuit, but out of Andreaya's range in the helicopter.

"_Look, the building's over the bridge, just be sure to cover me til the heat's off."_

"Done, I'll set up shop on the other side." Andreaya responded, gesturing to Lucius as the helicopter veered left and started flying away from the bridge. Pierce's car had become a small purple blur, being rapidly followed by some red weaving through traffic on the freeway.

The helicopter landed on top of a building, Andreaya quickly securing a harness around her waist and grabbing her McManus before running and diving over the side of the building. The harness jerked, the cable now suspending her in the air as she aimed the rifle and adjusted the scope.

She zoomed in, Pierce had harshly pulled his car to a stop and now was making a break for it on foot. The Morningstar vehicles behind him came to a halt as well, about eight of them piling out the cars and opening fire.

The rifle bucked in Andreaya's hands, the sound echoing through the air as her bullet made contact with one of the Morningstar pricks in the chest. She fired again, repeatedly, until her clip was out; three headshots, four body shots, one of them she candidly shot in the nuts just because. The street was littered with their bodies, blood and bullet-ridden vehicles.

Pierce was doing good returning fire, he had dashed up the street and around the corner as she caught sight of two more cars pulling up. Andreaya quickly reloaded her McManus, aiming again at the hood of one of the cars as it stopped. She fired three times, the car exploded into a flaming, charred out carcass, the blast also killing the nearby Morningstar that had gotten out the second vehicle.

By then Pierce had made a smooth retreat inside a building just outside a small parking lot. A few other Morningstar vehicles pulled up, but just as quickly as they arrived, they had pulled off since Pierce was nowhere to be found.

She waited, cautiously waited to see if any other cars would show up before sliding the rifle over her shoulder and scaling back up the side of the building. Her phone vibrated in her pocket as she took it out with a smile.

"You alright, Pierce?"

"Oh yeah, I'm good. I'm doing much better with the shit I picked up." He responded with grunt, "Picked up a nice little bit of cash too. Hey, those fuckers gone yet?"

"Yeah, the coast is clear." Andreaya sighed, slowly walking back to the helicopter. "I'll see you back at the penthouse, yeah?"

"Oh sure, sure. But uh, don't get too comfy." Pierce said casually.

Andreaya paused, her mouth already twitching into a frown. "And why's that?"

"Cuz, we've still got some work to do. I'll fill you in on the details when we get back to HQ."

"I take it a break and some pancakes are out of the question?" She asked, her stomach griping with hunger pains since she had not eaten.

"We can do all that, Boss, lets just handle this shit first." He said, then hung up.

Andreaya groaned aloud, stomping back to the helicopter as she undid the harness and clambered into the back.

"We, uh…we ready to go, Boss?" Lucius asked uneasily, glancing back at his leader.

"Yeah, just fly us back to the penthouse, Pierce will meet us there." She said dismissively, leaning her head back against the seat.

Lucius nodded, adjusting his headset before shifting the gears as the helicopter began to ascend into the air.

Andreaya yawned, her stomach gurgled loudly and she pouted to herself, folding her arms over her chest. She could totally go for a double Freckle burger with some large fries and a coke.

This was going to be such a long fucking day.

**-XXXXXXX-**

Pierce exhaled silently, the smoke from his cigarette furling into the air in thin wisps. His eyes wandered to the neon lights on the skyscrapers, then wandered to his leader who was devouring a _triple_ Freckle burger, a large oreo milkshake, _and_ large fries.

She refused, vehemently, to do anything on an empty stomach and demanded they locate a Freckle Bitch's to quell her hunger. After driving around town for about 20 minutes they finally located one, it was the only one in the city located inside a gas station. No sooner had they left, she went to town on the food.

He shook his head with a small grin, the Boss could literally eat for three people despite how small she was. He remembered Johnny once comparing her high metabolism to "a rabbit on meth".

So far, he was correct.

"So, you ready to make the next move against the Syndicate?" He asked, taking another puff from his cigarette.

Andreaya grunted, stuffing five ketchup-dipped fries into her mouth. "Mmph, yeah. Whaddya' got?"

Pierce blew a ring of smoke into the mid-afternoon air, "Ultor sent over a couple pallets of Saints merchandise and whatever. Maybe we should do a lil' advertising around town?" He paused with a smirk, "Y'know, pimp the Saints in Steelport."

Andreaya eyed him briefly before diverting her attention back to the artery clogging goodness of her burger. "Thought we had a PR department for all that."

Pierce nodded, "Yeah, we do, but the shit is twice as effective when you have actual celebrities promoting themselves."

The Boss made another grunt, taking a sip of the thick milkshake. "Jesus…does this mean I have to…" She paused with a scowl, "_Interact _with people?"

Her lieutenant flashed her a smile, "Oh, no. I'll do all the talking, you just cover me. I already got some good places we can hit first."

"Fine…I guess…but can it wait til after my nap?" She asked, her green eyes looking half-lidded. The heavy food consumption was making her sleepy again.

"The longer we wait, the longer the Syndicate will have time to find another way to fuck us over." Pierce responded coolly, taking another drag from his cigarette.

The Boss nodded mutely with a pout, she hated when he was right. Her lethargy would have to wait until she got back to the penthouse.

"Well, what'd they send over? Ultor, I mean." Andreaya asked, pressing the last bite of her burger into her mouth and chasing it with a couple of fries. She had noticed the backseat of the car had a few boxes stacked in it.

"Oh, you know. Standard stuff, lunchboxes, shirts and all that." He responded, only daring to reach out a hand and snatch some fries from the bag. "There's also my demo tape."

"Oh, so we're selling some shit?" She jibed earning a glare from him. "How're we gonna know where to sell this anyways?"

"Well we're cutting straight to the heart of this shit, we're selling the stuff right in the Morningstar territory." He said calmly, tossing the cigarette butt on the pavement and stuffing a fry into his mouth.

"And I take it you know exactly where to find all the eager buyers?"

"Of course. Those lockboxes had a lot of useful shit in them." He replied simply.

She nodded with a brief roll of her eyes, finishing the last of her fries and licking the ketchup off her fingers. "Fine…the faster we do this, the better."

"Just what I wanted to hear, girl." Pierce smiled, twisting the key in the ignition as the deep gray Blade hummed to life. He pulled out the small parking lot they had stopped at, merging into traffic and cruising up the road.

Andreaya smirked, taking a long sip from her cup as she used one hand to fish through the glove compartment for her Shepards. She placed them in her lap, setting her drink into the cupholder before loading her guns.

The first location was secluded between two buildings, the large parking lot was still empty even though it was midday. Pierce pointed to some person lingering between the buildings in the shadows.

"First deal of the day." He said, reaching in the backseat and rifling through the box, taking out a shirt. It was a black shirt brandishing the Saints logo and an assortment of weapons on the front.

Andreaya got the car, looking around cautiously as Pierce whizzed by her and disappeared behind one of the pillars between the building. She leaned against the car, her fingers tapping at the triggers of the handguns and she was mildly surprised how quiet it was. She figured the Morningstar should have been up their asses by now.

She squinted through the glare of the sunlight seeing a few red silhouettes patrolling across the street and felt a deep urge to shoot a few for the fuck of it. Her inner businesswoman reprimanded her for the idea, things were going smooth right now, no need to attract attention to themselves.

"Hey, wait! You didn't fucking pay for that!"

Andreaya's eyes snapped up, the so-called customer was running away with the shirt Pierce had retrieved. She glared, raising her pistol and shooting the mohawk sporting thief in the kneecap. He fell to the ground howling, Pierce briskly walked over and rifled through the man's back pockets before taking out a rumpled wad of cash.

"That'll cover it." He said before glancing down at the customer. "Yo, I'm gonna need you to shut up, you'll get us in trouble."

"I can fix that." Andreaya smiled darkly, pointing the gun down and shooting him in the head. The man's body lay lifeless, his blood draining onto the asphalt.

Pierce rubbed the back of his neck, "Jesus…might need to start doing this shit at night. Let's get the fuck out of here before the heat's on us."

Andreaya nodded, slipping back inside the car as Pierce ran around and got back in the driver's side. The car peeled out the parking lot quickly, Andreaya glanced out the wing mirror for any flashes of red.

"Think we got away ok?" She asked, looking over her guns for a minute.

"We should've. At least I think." Pierce muttered, turning the wheel as the car passed by a Rim Jobs. "But the next time, it probably won't be this easy."

"We're done already? That was fuckin' brief." Andreaya mused, sparing a glance out the mirror again.

"Nah, we got one more before we head back to the crib, we'll do some more next time."

"You might wanna step on it…" Andreaya said dryly as flashes of red and blue began appearing in the mirror, sirens wailing, as she reached her arm out the window and fired.

The windshield on the police cruiser had cracked from the first shot, causing the car to swerve for a moment before resuming its pursuit. One cop leaned out the window, returning fire as Andreaya mumbled a curse and fired back blindly. Pierce jammed his foot on the gas as the back window was busted out, shards of glass flying all over the backseat.

"You gonna shoot that motherfucker or no?" Pierce barked, swerving through traffic.

"You bitch so fucking much." She scoffed, reaching her arm out again to trade more gunfire before Pierce made a sharp left, just barely clipping another car in front. "For fuck's sake!"

"Sorry not sorry!" Pierce grinned, maneuvering past another car.

Andreaya leaned out the window herself, one hand gripping the door tightly as she fired again, the bullet bursting through the windshield and killing the officer in the passenger seat. The cruiser was still in hot pursuit, she wrinkled her nose at the persistent bastard.

She aimed again, squinting her eyes a bit and fired off three rounds, letting out a cheerful whoop as the bullets killed the driver too.

Pierce had already pulled over and had exited the car, a few CD's in hand. Andreaya stepped out for a second, her greenish eyes scanning the roads. She hadn't heard any other sirens, but she already knew the silence wouldn't last long.

"Eh? Fuck you doing here, American trash?" A heavily accented snarl from behind her caught her ears.

She turned on her heel with a scowl, only figures the Morningstar trash would be patrolling close by. Both men, one with a receding hairline and the other with a shaved head.

The one with the receding hairline caught sight of Pierce, "American scum!" He yelled, drawing his gun and aiming it at her lieutenant.

Andreaya made a grab for him, her fist coming into contact with his face three times before he finally dropped his gun. She quickly whipped out her pistol at the other man, firing twice, one shot to the neck and the other shot in the chest.

"Let go, you purple slag!" The Morningstar prick grounded out, pushing her back and breaking her hold for a minute.

"No can do, fuckwad!" Andreaya snorted, grabbing his arm and yanking him close as she raised her leg and connected her sneaker to his face, hard. His face, already bruising and bloody contorted with pain. Her leg swept his face, jerking it to the right, before she brought the heel of her foot back towards the left, letting his arm go in the process as he ungracefully fell on the ground.

By then Pierce was running over to her, his brown eyes glancing at the men on the ground. "Oh, see you've been handling business too."

She nodded with a smug grin, hearing a displaced groan from the bastard on the ground. She raised her foot over his face before stomping his face in, an audible _crack_ followed with muffled screams as she had broken his nose. She jumped, landing her full weight on his face as the bottom of her sneakers crushed into the bloody mass of skin. When she looked down, his face was a swollen bloody mess, the imprint of the bottom of her shoes on his purple-black bruised cheekbones.

"Well goddamn Boss." Pierce grunted, wrinkling his nose at the sight. "You ain't lost a step I see."

Andreaya smiled at him, her green eyes bright with bloodlust. "Of course not." She replied huskily, wiping the bottom of her shoes on the man's body, bloodstains smearing on his bright red shirt. She paused for a moment, feeling the body spasm a bit under her shoe.

"Stubborn fucker, aren't you?" She said snidely, twirling the handle of her gun on her finger before aiming it and emptying the clip into his chest, blood splattering all over the ground and onto her shoes and pants.

Fuck that felt liberating.

She took a deep breath and let it out with a soft sigh, turning back to her lieutenant who was giving her a wary look. "What'sa matter?"

Pierce stared at her incredulously before shaking his head and getting in the car. "Boss, anybody ever call you a psychopath before?"

Andreaya slipped back into the passenger seat, grabbing her cup and taking a sip of her milkshake. "Mmm…a couple times. Not that anyone ever lives after saying that though."

Pierce chuckled, pulling off and tearing down the street. "God, hope nobody saw your lapse in sanity."

"Dunno why you're making such a big deal out of it, it happens all the time."

"Shit, girl, not like that!" He cried, breezing through a red light and across the bridge. "Only seen you flip out once, and that was with Maero."

Andreaya grinned, a few drops of blood painting her cheeks making her look even more psychotic. "Oh, yeah. That was bad, but hey, he's dead and we're not."

"I hear that." Pierce said in agreement as they sped down the street.

* * *

Relatively brief chapter, I think. Oh and uh, the hand-to-hand combat scene, I was referencing Jin Kazama's double leg sweep technique, for all you Tekken lovers. I derped out for a second when I was writing it…review!


	6. Hit the Powder Room

**A/N: **Hey guys, I bring you chapter five. Thanks for the reviews so far, you guys are awesome! I see I'm gonna have to resort to typing on my off days. That seems to be the only time I won't be busy…

Onwards!

* * *

_**-Chapter 5: Hit the Powder Room-**_

* * *

_The brunette tapped her fingers in a rhythmic pattern against her martini glass, impatiently, she was going on her fourth drink in under an hour. Actually in under forty minutes. She slouched over more at the bar, her eyes aimlessly looking down into the glass._

_This was so annoying._

_Pierce was nowhere to be seen, probably deciding to be fashionably late, and the Boss and Gat weren't around either. The Purgatory was empty, save for a few random saints lingering around near the radio in the backroom, nobody was really here._

_Shaundi let out an annoyed growl under her breath, criss-crossing her legs every so often before finally reaching out for the bottle of Merlot on the counter, refilling her glass._

"_Gettin' wasted early?" A deep voice purred from behind._

_She didn't bother to turn around and look behind her, a smug smile creeping on her face as the source of the voice came and occupied the empty seat beside her. She glanced at him out the corner of her eye, as he picked up the half-empty bottle and looked it over._

"_Well if the Boss takes any longer, I just might." she replied, raising the glass to her lips and taking a small sip._

_Johnny chuckled, setting the bottle down and reaching for a glass from the rack overhead. "Drea' said she'll be here in a few, had to do some stuff and whatever."_

_Shaundi nodded, setting down her glass and lacing her fingers together as her eyes looked him over. "I thought you were with her earlier?"_

"_Oh, yeah, I was, but you know how she gets whenever she finds a sale at the mall somewhere." He chuckled again, pouring himself a glass of tequila. "I fuckin' had to leave before she drove me crazy."_

_Shaundi giggled, she knew firsthand that the Boss will stop whatever she's doing if there's a sale. She even treated herself to some free stuff from Leather & Lace after that time she killed the General._

"_Did she happen to tell you what this little meeting was supposed to be about?" The brunette asked, her green eyes raking over Johnny's handsome features._

_He shrugged, "She said it had some shit to do with Ultor and whatever. I didn't ask the specifics."_

"_You seen Pierce?"_

_He snorted, "Fuck no. Ain't nobody keeping' tabs on his ass."_

_Shaundi impatiently looked at the clock hanging over the shelves of liquor, "How much fucking longer will she be?"_

_Johnny smirked at her, "Got a hot date to get to?"_

_She scoffed, "No, but I could be doing other things with my day than waiting here. I've been here for a damn hour already."_

"_Fifteen more minutes won't kill ya, Drea' should be here soon, you know how she drives."_

_Shaundi sighed softly, resting her head on her hands. The Boss had been wrapped up in a lot of business meetings lately that seemed to focus a lot on the Saints. It was also suddenly being required that she and her lieutenants make more and more public appearances._

_But for what reason, Shaundi had no clue why. Boss stayed tight-lipped about most of this stuff._

"_Hey…hey, Gat?" she asked, her curiosity suddenly getting the better of her._

_He made a grunt in response, taking a long sip from his glass before finally setting it down. "Yeah?"_

_The brunette found her teeth lightly clamping down on her tongue, "Why…why're you the only one who gets to call the Boss by her name?"_

_It was random, totally out the blue, but she was always vaguely curious._

_Johnny looked at her, his eyebrows raised over his shades and for a second, Shaundi felt like backpedaling on the question. He stared at her, silently for a few moments before he finally spoke._

"_Because." He said simply with a shrug, "I just can. I've known her longer."_

_Shaundi bit the inside of her cheek, her face heating up a bit. That was such a stupid question with the most obvious answer. The Boss and Gat were best friends, they had known each other since day 1, whereas she had only known the two of them for less than 3 years now. Of course he had some entitlement with their' leader._

_Yet, why did it feel like there was something else not being said?_

"_But…"_

_Shaundi averted her gaze back to her glass, half wondering if he was going to reprimand her for even asking._

_And there it was._

"_That's just how Drea' is. Its been a habit of mine to call her out her name since the day we met, and she lets me." He said, adjusting his glasses on his nose. _

_Shaundi nodded, feeling a tad silly for asking. "What did you used to call her?"_

"_Oh, you know...Shawty, half-pint, squirt, brat…" He paused with a smirk, "Armrest."_

_Shaundi found herself smiling, "Seriously?"_

"_Oh yeah. Drea' was so fuckin' short, I kid you not." He grinned back at her, "She used to be a midget when I met her, she was shorter than you."_

_The brunette smiled, her green eyes glancing back to his face and subconsciously she leaned in towards him a little. She could feel her face warming up slightly, her nostrils flaring as she inhaled the sweet scent of his cologne._

"_Besides, she's called me a lot worse in case you haven't noticed." He muttered, taking another sip from his glass. The Boss said a lot of off the wall things whenever she got pissed._

_Shaundi's eyes lit up, "What's worse than being called a douche, fuck-stick or a fuck-smear?"_

"_Being called 'whiter than two-percent milk'." He said dryly with a frown._

_The brunette blinked at him with an amused grin, "Wait, what?"_

_Johnny huffed, "Yeah. Drea' always makes fun of how pale I am, she says I'm bout as white as two percent milk."_

_Shaundi laughed, heartily, knocking Gat on the shoulder with her fist, "That's pretty goddamn white if I do say so myself."_

"_Oh yeah, you'd definitely know better than me."_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" She said, folding her arms over her chest._

"_Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." He responded slyly, a smirk plastered to his face._

_Shaundi pouted at him, "Oh fuck you, Gat."_

"_If that's an offer, I'd be happy to take you up on it." He purred seductively, his voice lowering to something sensual._

_Shaundi flushed, she could've sworn her face went fifty shades of red in ten seconds flat. "Wh-what...no…shut up!"_

_He shrugged, "What? You're the one who said it."_

"_I didn't mean…I wasn't…" she stammered, losing her composure._

"_Gat, for fuck's sake, stop teasing her."_

_The two lieutenants glanced up as Andreaya made her way downstairs, her petite frame wrapped up in a deep plum catsuit, the sleek outfit hugging her delicate curves. It was modest, yet still suggestive as tight as it was, especially with the deep V-neck bearing cleavage. Her long, dark hair was swept over her left shoulder and her makeup was especially sultry._

_Gat whistled long and low, "Well damn, you weren't wearing that shit when I saw you today."_

_Shaundi blinked, "Yeah Boss, what's with the fetish suit?" _

_Andreaya grinned at the two of them, "Like it? Cuz its part of the thing I wanted to talk about…where's Pierce?"_

"_Who gives a hell?" Johnny retorted, a smug smile appearing on his face. "Is this the part where you tell me you're throwing me a stripper party?"_

_Andreaya turned her nose up, "That would just make your day wouldn't it?"_

"_Oh, fuck yes." He grinned, tilting his head so she could see his eyes over his glasses. "Especially if you plan on being the main entertainment."_

_Andreaya rolled her eyes, "Anywho. Ultor feels that the Saints have a lot of potential of appealing to the public. So, they've requested that someone be the face of Planet Saints."_

_Shaundi wrinkled her small nose, "You talking about that new chain of stores that we're starting?"_

"_Yeah, and…well. I thought, who better than you two?" she responded cheekily, ignoring the blank looks on her lieutenants' faces._

_Shaundi exchanged a look with Johnny before they both looked back at their leader with surprised faces, "What?" They said in unison._

_Andreaya waved her hand, "Oh c'mon, its totally not a bad idea. What better way to get the endorsements flowing?"_

"_What better way to be a pain in the ass…" Johnny grumbled, directing his attention back to his glass._

_Shaundi caught Andreaya's intense stare, "Oh come on, Shaundi, I know you'd love to get prettied up and be on camera, right?"_

_The brunette hesitated, deep in thought. The offer was rather intriguing, she did love to get dolled up and look sexy, but to be the face of a line of merchandise seemed…shallow. The initial concept of knowing a bunch of people would be masturbating to her image didn't seem too appealing._

"_I…I dunno, Boss…" she started, hunching her shoulders a bit._

"_Guys, it won't even be that bad. I promise. You're just taking a few photos, and boom, all done."_

"_Something tells me its way more to it than that." Gat mumbled, finishing the last of his drink._

_Andreaya snorted, stalking over and sliding her arms around his neck, pressing herself against his back. He glanced at her, coolly, leaning back into her embrace as her cheek pressed against his._

"_You're so negative…" she all but purred in his ear, and Shaundi saw the twitch of his fingers on his glass. "Won't you do it for me, pretty please?"_

_The was a brief silence before Johnny spoke, "Oh…sure. One condition though."_

_Andreaya pulled back from him a bit, "Uh…what?"_

_He turned in his seat and yanked her down, causing her to straddle his lap. His smirk was positively devilish, he leaned forward and whispered something in her ear that Shaundi strained to hear. The only visible response she saw was Andreaya narrowing her eyes back at him, a grimace on her face and her mouth twitching as though she were trying to restrain a smile._

"_Bastard." She said, pushing away from him and directing her gaze back at the brunette. "So, Shaundi, yes or no?"_

_The brunette sighed, shrugging her shoulders with a small smile. "You'll probably force me to anyways, so why not?"_

"_Just what I wanted to hear." Andreaya smiled at her, "You'll have a meeting with an image consultant tomorrow."_

_Shaundi gaped, the martini glass slipped right out of her hand and to the floor, "Wait, what?"_

"_You're welcome!" The Boss replied with a shit-faced grin, bouncing on her heels. _

_Shaundi groaned, sliding out her seat and marching towards the stairs. She'd go along with it, sure, but nobody had better make her cut her dreads. _

"_This had better be a good idea, Boss!" she hissed, folding her arms under her bosom._

"_Oh, it will be." Andreaya purred lowly, taking Shaundi's spot at the bar next to Johnny._

_The brunette pouted, halfway up the stairs and turned around to refute her leader's statement but instead found herself staring at her. At them, rather._

_Their' voices were low, she couldn't make out a word, but that wasn't what made her curious. Andreaya was facing Johnny whispering harshly, her face contorted in a glare, before he faced her. His hand trailed up her leg in a smooth motion then found its way to her face, cupping her chin. He said something to her, almost gently, and a shy smile graced her face._

_Shaundi blinked a few times, shaking off whatever trance she was in, and headed up the stairs before they noticed her still standing there._

**-xxxxxxxx-**

Shaundi groaned aloud, running a hand over her face sleepily. Her green eyes stared up at the chipped paint on the ceiling, and the static interference on the TV screen on some re-run of NyteBlade.

She felt a glimmer of anger bubble up inside her, seeing Josh Birk's face let alone hearing his voice at all, _still_ made her want to snap his neck.

She reasoned most of their misfortune was his fault in the first place.

She had fallen asleep on the sofa, she wasn't entirely sure when. All she remembered doing was going out for another jog, coming back to the apartment to take a shower and crashing. That seemed to be the routine lately.

The living room was dark, she reached out, groping about blindly for her phone before she found it on the floor under the coffee table. It read 8:58 PM, and she blanched.

Had she really slept that long?

Yet what did it matter? She had nothing to do right now, regardless.

Not a single text from the Boss either since they had laid siege to the HQ two nights ago. She and Pierce were out doing god knows what to set things up for the Saints, while she sat at her apartment, moping.

Shaundi hated to admit it, but it was absolutely killing her.

In her eyes, this was absolute torture. Gat's death seemed too surreal, yet it still burned at her heartstrings and nestled itself in the recesses of her mind -of her darkest memories- that she never wanted to think of again. But she couldn't stop thinking about it.

It haunted her.

Though she knew the Boss would never let the bastard get away with it, it still felt like Loren was still doing so. Being the callous, Belgian dickface he was, with those two identical sluts.

It burned her inside, in fact it made her seethe with rage. The 'tactful' process that the Boss was handling things with right now was taking too long in her opinion.

In fact Shaundi had texted the Boss at least a good ten or fifteen times in the last two days, basically _demanding _something to do. She only figured the Boss was going to say 'No' to her for so long before she finally started ignoring her texts.

But she desperately needed something to do, -anything- to do, that required fucking up the Syndicate.

Shaundi yawned, sitting up in nothing but her tank top and her panties, and shuffled towards the kitchen to the fridge. A box of Black cherry ice cream was awaiting her spoon and bowl in the freezer.

No sooner had she began scooping, her phone rang noisily; Ke$ha's '_Tick-Tock_' melody screaming through the small room. She all but dropped the spoon and carton, sprinting over to the sofa and tripping on the rug, causing her to flip over onto the sofa then roll onto the floor in a heap.

She fumbled about quickly for the blasted piece of technology, before the bright screen caught her eye and she slammed the phone to her ear.

"Yeah?" She answered the phone almost a little too eagerly, sweeping her messy hair out her face.

"_Hey, Shaundi. Wanna go shopping?" _The Boss' voice hummed into her ear.

Shaundi felt her lip curling up in disgust, what the fuck was wrong with this woman? How could she even fucking consider going on a damn shopping trip after all the shit that had happened lately?

"Not in the mood." she snarled back, her hand curling into a vice-grip around her phone.

She frowned, hearing the Boss giggle on the other end before she continued, "_The Morningstar have some connections at a designer gun store called Powder. Pierce thinks there might be some info that can take us to Loren."_

Shaundi's face lit up, a sinister smile creeping over. "No kidding?"

"_No kidding." _The Boss replied, and Shaundi could almost see the smile on that crazy woman's face. _"So, wanna go shopping?"_

"I'll be right over." She growled, hanging up and scrambling to find her clothes. She threw them on in a frenzy, dashing into the bathroom to fix her hair and makeup before grabbing her guns and sprinting out the door.

**-XXXXXXX-**

Andreaya blew a small bubble with her gum, the sugary flavor tickling at her taste buds. She tapped her foot patiently as Pierce paced beside her, stopping every now and again to stare up at the building.

"Man, where the fuck is Shaundi? We ain't got all night." He complained, casting his leader an annoyed look.

Andreaya rolled her eyes, adjusting the sleeve of her new leather jacket. "She'll be here Pierce, you know she wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Well she'd better hurry the fuck up cuz, -"

A loud screech of tires made the duo look up, seeing a deep red Atlantica barreling up the street, tires squealing as it made a sharp swerve-turn and skidded to a halt right in front of the building.

Shaundi stepped out, her green eyes bright and her expression serious. "We ready to do this?"

Andreaya grinned, spitting her gum on the pavement. "But of course. Right, Pierce?"

Pierce glanced back up at the neon pink gun logo on the building, shaking his head. "There's a lotta motherfuckers in there, hope you know that."

"So? Lets just go around back. Probably less security." Andreaya shrugged, leading the way before she stopped at the corner, glancing around cautiously.

"What the fuck makes you think its not guarded?" Pierce asked, peeking around the corner with her. Two Morningstar goons were lingering outside the back gate, engrossed in conversation.

"I never said it wouldn't be, and besides, its like two punks." She hissed back, her greenish eyes narrowing at him.

"What about the inside, motherfucker!?" Pierce whined, before Shaundi shoved him out the way, snatching her gun out the holster on her hip.

She fired twice, both headshots killing the guards on the spot. Her angry gaze swept back to the Boss and Pierce who had his mouth agape with shock.

"Put in your tampons and lets do this already." She growled, already stalking towards the back gate.

The Boss and Pierce followed, and no sooner had they neared the gate, the first few rings of bullets came flying in their' direction. The trio ducked down, a few parked semi-trucks and cement barricades offering some protection.

Andreaya huffed, shooting one of the guards in the arm earning a howl of pain before she shot the man again. "Man, there were way more than I thought there'd be…"

"What the fuck do you think I was tryna' tell you!" Pierce yelled, firing off a few rounds before creeping ahead and taking cover behind one of the vehicles.

"Can you two stop whining please? We have a job to do!" Shaundi shouted, grabbing one of the female guards by her hair and snapping the woman's neck. She quickly swapped guns, taking up the woman's SMG and firing towards the back of the lot.

Andreaya squinted, seeing one of the Morningstar goons coming from a backdoor, just the entry they were looking for. She aimed carefully and fired, the shot catching the unfortunate bastard right in the eye as he stumbled back and fell into the brick wall.

"This way!" She beckoned her lieutenants as she ran to the door, fortunately it wasn't locked. The air was filled with the smell of plastic, fresh lumber, and the smell of gunpowder.

She inhaled it deeply; she loved the smell of gunpowder during a fight.

"Fuck me, its dark." Shaundi hissed, the dim lights were barely illuminating the large room, it was loaded with shelves upon shelves of crates, racks and assorted boxes. A loud creaking noise made her and the Boss stop in their tracks, a quick glance behind and it was only Pierce shutting the backdoor.

He looked back and forth between the women, "What? You already know the assholes are gonna send reinforcements, don't need to make it any easier to get to us."

Shaundi rolled her eyes, before a streaming beam of red light caught her attention; it was fixated right on the Boss' back, exactly on her spine. "Boss, look out!"

She lunged, tackling the Boss to the ground just as the bullet went sailing by, only narrowly missing her thigh by centimeters. Her green eyes snapped up in disdain, there were 3 red beams aimed at them now.

"Shit, fuck and hell!" Andreaya cursed, rolling off to the right as Shaundi dove to the left, whipping out her pistols and aiming at the banisters above, firing randomly. The gunfire cracked through the thin wood barricades the snipers were lurking behind, she caught a glimpse of one of the bastards running away.

"Get back here, pussy!" She screamed, already hyped up on adrenaline.

"What the fuck is wrong with these motherfuckers?!" Pierce yelled, catching sight of one of the snipers and cringing internally. The man was unhealthily pale, a bright red trench coat and a shaven head, and he vaguely brought to mind the creepy villain from 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'.

Matter of fact, the other two bastards looked the exact same as well.

The hell?

Pierce ducked behind a stack of plywood, aiming at the sniper closest to the far wall and firing a few shots, one hitting the pale goon in the arm but that only caused him to direct his attention towards him instead. He ducked, the bullet from the McManus went crashing straight through a chunk of thin wood behind him, causing splinters to fly everywhere.

"Have a seat, dammit!" He yelled, squinting and firing just as soon as the bastard had finished reloading his gun and got back up. The bullet scraped the top of the man's head, leaving a small chasm in its wake as he collapsed.

Shaundi swore, catching sight of two other Morningstar wimps rushing in through a door, she fired quickly, shooting one in the stomach and the other with a headshot.

"Boss, we gotta keep it moving!" Shaundi yelled, aiming her gun and firing at one of the snipers, she grinned, the bullet caught the bastard in the neck. He staggered, but did not fall and Shaundi growled lowly, firing again until her clip ran out. He fell back in a pool of blood, bullet holes almost entirely distorting his face.

"Yeah, I know, we need to find the owner!" Andreaya grunted, reloading her gun and shooting again, the headshot causing one of the snipers to tumble right over the railing and fall to the concrete floor.

"That all of 'em?" Pierce grunted, looking around cautiously.

"Yeah, for now. Already know it won't be long before there's more." Andreaya huffed, reloading her pistols. "Lets find the owner, and interrogate the bastard."

"Where do you think we'd find them?" Shaundi asked, slamming a fresh magazine into her TEK 10.

"In the office, cowering under a desk like a bitch." The Boss said with a smirk, stalking to the back and stopping in front of two large double doors. With a kick, the doors burst open into what looked like a mini-waiting area.

"Dammit!"

She looked over seeing a few Morningstar boobs caught off guard; she grinned, raising her pistols quickly and firing, the bullets making clean exits through their' bodies, blood splattering all over the floor.

"Nice one, Boss." Shaundi piped, looking over the bodies with a smirk.

"This way." Andreaya said lowly, making her way towards the back and pushing open another set of doors, it was the other half of the same room that was blocked off by the rows of shelves and crates.

Pierce looked around spying a door towards the far end of the room, "That's probably the way to go…" He squinted, seeing a large bulky mass behind one of the rows of crates.

Something wasn't right.

The mass started to move, heavy footsteps thudding on the floor before his eyes went wide. It was one of the Hulk-babies, upgraded with steel-plated arm guards and…

"Fuckin' shit! Its got a mini-gun!"

Andreaya gasped, cursing her luck and everything under the sun as she and her lieutenants ran for cover. The Hulk-thing opened fire, the powerful streamline of bullets were puncturing straight through the crates and the barricades.

Andreaya swore, a few crates right over her head had exploded into chunks of dust, wood chips and splinters, she had to shield her eyes from the debris. She coughed, crawling around to the other side of the rack she was hiding behind, a few shots rang in the air catching her attention.

Shaundi and Pierce had hid underneath one of the stacks of crates on the opposite side of the room, firing discriminately as not to alert the thing of their' hiding place. The creature seemed duped enough, still firing at each and every rack, the floor beneath it littered with bullet shells.

Andreaya took a deep breath, aiming her pistols and firing at the thing's head until both of her clips were gone; the Hulk-thing slowed down if only for a matter of minutes before it turned, -and was pointing the mini-gun in her direction instead.

It fired, the rapid streamline of bullets blasting holes into the concrete floors, the brick wall, and through the crates, bullets occasionally ricocheting off the metal from the racks. Her hiding space was shrouded with a thin veil of smoke, she had resorted to tucking herself into a ball in a dark part of the corner then proceeding to slink underneath the racks. If she could make it to where Pierce and Shaundi were, they could possibly make a break for the next door.

The Hulk-thing's footsteps echoed, each heavy thud accented with a loud grunt. Andreaya caught sight of the mini-gun, there was still a long string of ammo despite how many shells were scattered about on the floor.

She considered trying to make the Hulk-thing use up all of the bullets, but, by the time it would there would be no place left for her and her lieutenants to hide. And she most certainly hadn't forgotten that thing's monstrous strength.

Fleeing was a bitch move, but it was the only safe option right now.

She crawled, staying alongside the walls and glancing down on occasion to see where the thing was walking. She spotted Shaundi, whose green eyes were wide with panic. The brunette was mouthing something, Andreaya couldn't make out what, before a loud roar made her look up in alarm.

The thin veil of smoke that was masking her had already dissipated, the Hulk-thing was upon her in an instant, shoving a rack over then swinging the mini-gun. Andreaya yelped, flattening herself against the ground just barely dodging the full brunt force of metal to her head. The gun made a resounding _clang_ against the steel rack, the entire structure shaking violently from the force.

"Fuckin' shit, fuckin' shit!" She screeched, fumbling for her pistols and firing only for her eyes to go wide as yet again, that damned _kcht-kcht _sound met her ears. They were fucking empty!

"Boss! Boss! Are you ok!?" Pierce's voice echoed somewhere distantly, Andreaya couldn't really look around to register where he was.

The titan swung again as Andreaya scrambled to her feet to get away; she swore as the barrel of the gun made contact with her ribcage sending her flying into another rack, her back slamming into the metal bars. She slumped to the floor, one arm gripping her side as she lay slightly dazed. She inhaled sharply; there was a dull ache in her back and a strong throb in her side and she was fully certain something was broken.

The ground was quaking beneath her feet, the Hulk-thing was storming towards her and was upon her again in two large strides, he grabbed her by her neck and was dangling her about in the air like a rag doll.

She wheezed, the vice-grip around her neck was starting to get tighter, the Hulk-beast was trying to crush her windpipe. Black was starting to creep into her vision, somewhere distantly she heard gunfire, though not entirely certain whether it was coming from more Morningstar or her lieutenants. Andreaya made a weak gasp, her nails digging into the Hulk-thing's monstrous hand, she could make out a new set of bullet wounds on his face, so her lieutenants were indeed firing at it.

It suddenly let out a howl, presumably out of pain before she found herself slipping out the chokehold it had on her. She fell to the ground, a strong pain shooting up her spine before something purple materialized in front of her.

It was Shaundi, who bent down only for a moment to unhook one of the grenades on Andreaya's belt, then turned and forcefully shoved it into the hulking beast's mouth. She kneed it in the face, sending it toppling backwards as the grenade detonated with a boom, chunks of skin and blood spraying everywhere.

"Boss, you okay?" Shaundi had quickly knelt down by Andreaya's side, offering a hand to help her up.

"Yeah…yeah…just got blindsided is all." Andreaya muttered, struggling to stand up without Shaundi's help. She didn't need her lieutenants to think she was hurt.

"You sure bout that? I heard the impact from when that gun hit you." Pierce said gruffly, stepping over arm of the huge body and walking over to them. He gripped Andreaya's arm, hoisting her up and he didn't fail to miss the sharp hiss she made.

Shaundi's eyes lingered on the Boss as she rubbed at her side. "Boss…you gonna be ok? You got hit pretty hard -"

"You guys, I'm fine. The most its gonna leave is a bruise." Andreaya growled, straightening up and drawing her pistols, jamming two fresh magazines in them.

"Boss, with a hit like that, that's way more than just a bruise." Pierce retorted, gently placing two fingers under her chin and lifting her face to look at her neck. A dark imprint of fingers was all the way around her neck, purplish and mingled with red.

"_Pierce_," Andreaya murmured lowly, malice threading her tone as she slapped his hand away, "I'm fine."

He snorted, but said nothing. He'd address it after they made it out of there, no point in trying to reason with her right now.

Andreaya scoffed, storming ahead and making her way to the back door, she pushed it open and was met with five goons trying to block the way; Shaundi had pushed by her, unleashing the bullets from her SMG and the bodies silently fell to the floor.

The trio made their way up the staircase, through a corridor and across the rafters, Pierce narrowed his eyes at their' leader; she was limping a bit, occasionally her hand would grip at her side or rub at the small of her back.

He shook his head silently, tough as nails he'd give her that much.

"There's the office!" Shaundi said, pointing at a small room at the farthest end of the rafters.

"Look's like nobody's home." Andreaya mused, trying to squint inside the dusty window of the office interior. "Shaundi, see if you can hack the database."

The brunette nodded, sprinting ahead and bursting into the office as Pierce and Andreaya stood outside the door.

"Oh…looks like the welcoming committee brought the after party." Pierce muttered at the influx of Morningstar running across the rafters, and a few below.

"Guess we'll have to handle that huh?" Andreaya grinned, taking her grenades and yanking the plugs before tossing them down below. Multiple explosions resounded below, chased with screams of agony.

Gunfire was traded for a few minutes, heavily, the Morningstar numbers were dropping rapidly despite how many outnumbered them.

"Just a few more seconds…" Shaundi's voice came from inside the office as she furiously typed at the keyboard, scrolling through miscellaneous data before her green eyes went wide. "I got it!"

"Great job girl, now can we get the fuck outta here?" Pierce shouted back, kicking one goon in the crotch before grabbing him and throwing him over the railing.

"Yes we can!" The brunette grinned, emerging from the office with a small stack of papers. "Got all the information here!"

Andreaya nodded, "Saints, we are leaving!"

The trio retreated, fighting the few straggling Morningstar that had shown up too late, guns blazing until they escaped outside.

**-xxxxxxx-**

Greenish eyes scanned through the data Shaundi had procured, and she almost laughed at the results.

Her first hunch had suggested that Loren would be smarter than to go holing himself up right downtown in the tallest building that screamed '_I'm a criminal mastermind' _, it was so cliché.

Yet according to the documents, that's exactly where he was. Practicality was really not an ideal with this bastard.

She had been lurking in her office since the return from Powder, she had forced Shaundi to go home and cool off, the brunette was extremely edgy with adrenaline. Shaundi flat out wanted to go after Loren tonight.

Andreaya scoffed at the thought, her side was still pulsing with pain.

She heaved a small sigh, running her hand tenderly along her side. There was a huge bruise there now, spanning from under her left breast down to her navel, the entire area swollen and red.

There was a small knock at the door, before Pierce emerged through the door with gauze in hand.

"Oh…damn. Its worse than I thought…" He muttered, his dark eyes roving over the large bruise.

Andreaya flushed, a scowl crossing her face as she tried her best to cover herself up. Not like it helped, seeing as she was back in her sports bra and track pants.

"Don't fucking worry about it." She huffed, turning away from him and folding her arms across her chest -albeit with a slight wince.

"Bullshit girl." Pierce said gruffly, walking over to her and setting the gauze on the desk. "You need to bandage that up if you don't plan on going to a hospital."

"Pierce…its fine, alright? What're you, Johnny?" She scowled, bristling at the thought. Johnny was always overprotective of her, no matter how minor the injury or situation.

"Shit, if Gat was here he'd let you have it, too." Pierce responded calmly, unwrapping the roll of gauze. "We can't hit the Syndicate if you're not physically ready to take them on."

He smiled at the exasperated groan she made, she was like a little kid sometimes. Or more so like the annoying kid sister he never wanted. Either way, he was stuck with her.

"Tch…Gat wouldn't go bothering me like you are." She hissed, as he lifted her arms in the air to dress her ribs.

"Nah, he wouldn't." Pierce chuckled, gently wrapping her mid-section. "Gat would cuss you out, then force you to lay your ass down somewhere."

Andreaya found herself giggling, that would be just like Johnny to do that to her.

"See? You know I'm right."

"Shut up, Pierce." She retorted with a small smile.

"Why you gotta be an asshole?" He pouted, securing a pin to the gauze.

"That's my job."

"Well, your other job is staying on your feet and taking care of yourself." He said softly, pushing a strand of hair off her face. "Gat wouldn't be too happy if you didn't."

Andreaya sighed quietly, looking out the window. She couldn't even see the stars dotting the night sky, the heavens were clouded over. If only for a moment did she allow her mind to wander back to Johnny and those times where he'd play doctor to her and give her a little tough love.

She missed it already.

"Yeah…" She said, feeling a little bit empty. "Guess he wouldn't."

* * *

Wheeeee, read and review cuz you guys rock!


	7. Calling Down the Thunder pt 1

**A/N: **Chapter 6 here, glad you guys like this so far! You guys are awesome. SR4 will be out soon! (insert random excited gibberish here) Or it'll probably already be out by the time I post this thing. I won't bore you here, so lets jump straight to the story.

Here we go!

* * *

_**-Chapter 6: Calling Down the Thunder pt.1-**_

* * *

_Tick._

_Tick._

_Tick._

_Tick._

_A steady, monotonous ticking from the small clock beside the bed, the only audible sound in the otherwise silent room. There was another sound, much softer though, right beside me._

_Rhythmic, even breathing. A soft exhale of breath now and again with a light rustle of the sheets. _

_I shifted my body ever so slowly, nestling myself further into the source, his body radiating with warmth on this otherwise cool yet pleasant night. His arm was wrapped around my waist, loosely yet securely; each time I shifted, he'd only reign in his grip on me._

_I'm okay with that for some reason. Rather, I like it._

_I watch him sleep. I find it strange that I wanted to do so, but there was some sense of comfort as I did it._

_Some sense of…possession._

_I admire him in the dim light of the moon that filters through the open window; I think he's beautiful. He's perfect, even. _

_My eyes went roving over his chiseled torso; all hard muscle and wonderfully toned stomach, the sensual contour of his collarbones, then my eyes drifted further towards the exposed hipbone, the blankets only providing a small shield of dignity to his nether regions._

_And said regions otherwise hidden by the blanket were especially pleasing to my eyes…and other places._

_Vaguely he brought to mind a Greek sculpture, maybe Michelangelo's David._

_Undoubtedly masculine, powerful, strong yet gentle, and approachable. A faint air of vulnerability even._

_Especially like this. His face, devoid of emotion looked peaceful, no nightmares plaguing his dreams tonight. A rare glimpse of him without his glasses on, a rare glimpse of him not being angry, caustic or otherwise guarded. He hates when people try to read his emotions, for those are tucked away and not meant to be seen._

_At least not by certain people._

_Yet, here I am and I get to see this. _

_And despite all the years I've known him, this side appeals to me far more than his normal self. I don't know why._

_My finger found its way to his cheekbone, gently tracing down to his strong jaw line and back to his lips. Those same lips that teased and claimed my own, claimed every inch of my skin for the whole night._

_The memories of heated touches and rough caresses; needy, ardent, passionate, and entirely unrestrained, burned fresh in my mind. A tingly feeling surfaced in my core, my cheeks flushed and I curled myself into his body, wrapping my leg over one of his._

_I oddly felt no shame about what we'd done, though I was apprehensive about what would happen when he awoke._

_The reaction._

_Would he say it was a mistake? Or would he simply pretend it never happened? Or would he just shrug it off and say we're still friends and that nothing is different? Or what if he never brings it up at all?_

_I wanted him to say something, but I wasn't entirely sure what. And the first thought that came to my mind was something I was certain I wouldn't be prepared to hear coming out of his mouth._

_He made a sleepy murmur, undistinguishable, before he rolled over on his side facing me. I had turned over as well; maybe out of fear he might suddenly awake and see me staring at him like a creep, then I felt his arms pulling me into him._

_He hadn't awakened, yet the fluidity of his movement, unconscious though it may be, seemed as though this was something he was used to doing in bed. Even though its never been with me._

_My body spooned against his, melded perfectly, his arm wrapped under mine and his fingers absently stroking at my ribcage. His breath was hot on the back of my neck, and his face nuzzled right at the nape._

_It felt so good._

_I felt content. Not something I've felt in a very long time. _

_Loved?_

_The thought made me frown a bit, that emotion was perplexing. I always thought it should only apply to family. Mine, I rarely got to see._

_My gang was like a second family, something I valued deeply and kept close to my heart. But it was stronger with certain people._

_My lieutenants mainly, I cared for all of them, of course I did. Pierce was like a brother to me, maybe just more so on the rational side. Shaundi was like a little sister, she always needed someone to look out for her. When Carlos was still around, he was like a kid brother…just so naïve and precocious. And Johnny…_

_Johnny was something. _

_I looked at his hand in the light; strong, calloused, fully capable of taking lives at a moment's notice. Yet with me…they were gentle, protective, but dominating. Not once have I ever questioned my safety in these hands. _

_But I questioned tonight._

_Not my security, but what transpired between two otherwise empty souls. _

_This…connection I was certain I had felt, that transcended deeper than the friendship we bore. Deeper than any emotion I'd ever felt in my life._

_It perturbed me._

_My hand laced with his; I liked the contrast of our skin tones, my golden brown and his pale complexion. I liked a lot of things about him, the more I thought about it._

_The more I thought about it, the more it started to worry me._

_Scare me, maybe? Emotions don't bode well with me, especially of the romantic variety._

_What do I call this feeling he keeps giving me? What he keeps making me feel whenever we're alone?_

_What do I classify his behavior as, as he acts one way with other people then becomes an entirely different person around me?_

_The best friend title still existed, there was that, but there were too many mixed signals._

_How he smiles at me, not like his smirks or playful smiles -a genuine one- that makes me shy around him. How he touches me; stroking my cheeks when I'm upset or cupping my chin and making me look into his eyes. Even kissing me on the forehead as of late, whenever we part ways at night._

_Such…delicate gestures. Affectionate gestures. _

_Maybe it was because of what he'd been telling me earlier, that grim premonition he'd been dreaming of. Maybe this is why he's being like this._

_But it doesn't account for why he's behaving this way towards only me. _

_He still acted perfectly normal around Shaundi and Pierce, he acted normal whenever the four of us were together. This only served to confuse me even more._

_I closed my eyes, clearing my mind and focusing only on the sound of his breathing and the ticking of the clock. My body began to feel heavy with the urge to sleep, the drowsiness starting to set in._

_It niggled somewhere in the back of my mind, rattling like a box of rocks, insistently, before it slipped away into the unknown of unconsciousness._

_What do I call this feeling?_

_**-**_**xxxxxxxx**_**-**_

Today was the day.

No amount of mental preparation, Monster energy drinks, beer or even Jesus could calm the searing high ripping through my veins. An adrenaline rush, stronger than I've ever felt before pulsated through me. There was still the fresh subsidiary pain in my side, which Pierce had bandaged the night prior. It throbbed; I hadn't taken a single pain pill for it, and I felt I may regret this later.

But later wasn't important, my cracked rib wasn't important. Today, my focus was on Loren, to fuck him up and take names. To do this in the name of revenge. To do this for Johnny.

I was ready to do this…

Or at least that's what I kept trying to tell myself.

I went for a walk through Sunset Park since my mind would not let me sleep, my eyes were somewhat tired and a biting chill was nipping at my face. I actually hadn't slept since last night. The skies were clouded, heavy gray clouds blocking the view of the sun. The air was damp and the wind chill didn't make it any better.

I adjusted the oversized hood on my head, pulling it down further over my eyes which were already hidden behind a pair of aviators. I took a deep breath, letting the slightly faded scent of Ralph Lauren Polo cologne seep into my nostrils. It smelled wonderful.

I smiled sadly; even though it had been three weeks since I had last seen him in it, it still smelled like him.

If there was one thing I used to love, it was raiding Gat's closet. His hoodies, sweatpants and T-shirts were always my favorite picks. This one was one of his personal favorites; all black, a fleur-de-lis on the back with gothic-designed wings all in white. The wings spread wide and stretched over both sleeves of the hoodie. His initials were sewn on the front on the left side.

I stuffed my hands in the front pockets, continuing my aimless trek through downtown. My mind was somewhere else; I was alert and aware of my surroundings, but not focusing on it in the slightest. A light rain began to patter down onto the streets, and I came to a stop at the park.

The only thing I truly liked about this place was that for the most part, it was not densely crowded. It was generally quiet, especially today with the weather being what it was. Stormy weather seemed to make everyone disappear.

Standing over the little bridge, looking down into the murky pond below that rippled from the raindrops, I felt tranquil.

It might be weird to derive some type of inner nirvana from this place, this city, seeing the misfortunes that keep befalling me here but I need an escape for a minute. I just need something to remind me shit's not all that bad right now.

I squinted; my reflection was impossible to make out in the dark waters, mostly just a shadowy silhouette.

The rain began to fall a bit harder now, the moisture was already beginning to soak into the hood of my jacket. It was cold rain too, another chill racing up my spine as a droplet fell right on my nose.

I couldn't describe this feeling I had right now.

I felt more alone than ever yet not, I felt so empowered, yet so weak.

I shivered a little, a gentle breeze billowing through the air. I should've brought an umbrella.

_I should've done a lot of things._

I clenched my fists, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. I was never one to go praying for blessings and luck; whatever I wanted, I went after it. But damn, I just might need to today. I just might.

"Hey…can you hear me up there?" I said quietly, casting my eyes towards the dark skies. There was a rumble of thunder; to anyone else it would say that a storm is brewing, to me, that was a response.

I bit my tongue, a feeling of epic dismal proportions swelling in my chest. The pain surged, mingling right with the pain in my ribcage and I embraced it for once.

I needed to feel the burn.

"Hey…look…I need a favor." I said, exhaling slowly through my nostrils. "Be by my side today, alright? I don't know if you're ok or not, but I need you here."

I really did need him here. Badly.

I took a shuddery breath, "Johnny…wherever you are…" I looked back down, I couldn't finish saying what I wanted to say. My throat had constricted itself due to the tears itching at my eyes. I seemed to do a lot of that crying shit lately, and it was starting to piss me off.

Why was I getting this way so suddenly? Where was the raw anger and bitterness that I used to have as a kid?

I slid a hand under my glasses to rub at my eyes, simultaneously tucking these stupid emotions back into a box and trying to regain my composure. I don't need this right now.

"Wherever you are…" I said again, feeling more and more empty at the thought and once again I couldn't finish it. I wanted to, but a part of me wanted to remain in denial.

_Please come home. Come back to me._

I shook my head, reaching in the pocket of my track pants and grabbing my phone.

No more of this.

I started back towards the HQ, it was five blocks away from the park. My finger tapped at the phone before I quickly put it up to my ear. It rang three times before it was finally answered.

"Hey, Boss you feeling any better?" Pierce queried automatically, his voice sounding a little uncertain.

"Yeah, Pierce. I'm fine." I said sharply, jumping right down to business, "Look, enough bullshit. I want Loren and I want him now."

A soft sigh on the other end made me furrow my brows a bit, "Yeah, I know. Are you positive you wanna do this? Y'know, no waiting to recuperate or any of -"

"Yes." I cut him off, crossing the street briskly, "I want that fucker's head. We make our move today."

"You know this ain't gonna be easy. That tower is going to be crawling with Morningstar, Boss."

I rolled my eyes. Once again, forever stating the obvious.

"No shit." I said flatly, slowing my pace since my side started to ache again. "But since when have we ever done things the easy way?"

"Point taken. What's the plan?"

"Kill everyone we see and find Loren."

"I can work with that." Pierce responded with a chuckle. "I'm behind you all the way, Boss."

I smiled a bit, "Thanks. I'll meet you at the penthouse, I gotta call Shaundi."

"Bet. See you guys there."

I hung up, quickly hitting a button and flipping the phone back to my ear. I have Shaundi's number on speed-dial.

She answered almost immediately, "Yeah, Boss?"

"Shaundi, its time."

"Just tell me where to be." She said quickly, I can practically feel her excitement through the phone.

"We're meeting at the penthouse."

"I'm on my way," she hissed out, venom seeping into her tone. "I swear when I get my hands on Loren, I'm gonna rip that motherfucker's head off."

I looked to the sky and saw a flash of lightning, "Don't worry, Shaundi, he won't get away this time."

"You bet your ass he won't." She snarled back, hanging up on me.

I sighed softly, Shaundi would most certainly not be holding back today. But a part of me was proud; with everyone's head in the right place, we were a force not to be fucked with.

I looked to the sky again, it rumbled again with thunder.

_Be by my side today. Be by my side._

* * *

I loaded my Shepards, slapping some fresh magazines on my belt, and snatched up a few grenades and put them at my hips. My D4TH Blossoms secured in my thigh-holsters on my jeans; I had to make a quick outfit change back into my usual stuff, there's no point in getting my loungewear bloody.

I paused for a moment, taking a minute to silently survey my crew.

Pierce and Shaundi were beside me, readying their weapons, and behind me, the rest of my Saints were preparing themselves as well.

The atmosphere was pensive and heavy, like soldiers preparing for a battle that they know they won't win.

I felt like brooding, but I kicked that negativity right out the window. I needed to focus.

I heard a clank on the bar counter; Pierce had set one of the Krukovs on it, and just as he bent to acquire some magazines, Shaundi had quickly snatched it away.

"That uh, looks a little too big for you." He said, trying to sound casual as he eased the gun out her hands.

She fixed him with a glare, "Gimme the goddamn gun, Pierce."

"Alright, alright. Shit." He huffed as she snatched it back, already jamming a clip inside.

"Enough." I said firmly, causing everyone within range to stop what they were doing and look at us.

I looked up, letting my gaze sweep the mass of purple in front of me. Everyone's eyes were on me, awaiting orders or at least a speech. I had no motivational shit right now, but I did need everyone to know the plan here.

"Listen up people, I'm going to be quick about this." I started, standing a bit straighter, "We have one job; to find Loren and skewer his ass on a silver platter."

A few murmured agreements and the occasional 'Hell yeah' resounded through my audience.

"I need everyone's head in the game today. We have one chance to do this today, one chance to get this right and there is no room for fuck ups." My voice rose a little, I gazed around the room.

"Pierce, Shaundi and I will infiltrate the building, there's a docking bay right at the back. Once we clear the way, I'm going to need a few of you guys to have the bomb ready."

Another round of murmurs and I raised a hand to silence them, "The bomb has to get to the tower unscathed. No dents, no scratches and not a single fucking bullet hole on that thing whatsoever."

Most certainly don't need the crew blowing themselves the fuck up. Or me for that matter.

"We get in, we find Loren, and once I finish fucking his ass up, we blow the joint." I stated finally. "We're sending a message here, and that message is that the Syndicate has fucked with the wrong gang."

The room came alive with cheers, a few of the guys raising their guns in the air.

I smiled, raising my rifle in the air. "For Johnny!"

"For Johnny!" The crew echoed back at me, a few whoops and cheers going on as I turned to address my lieutenants. Pierce nodded at me, approvingly, and Shaundi had actually cracked a smile.

"Lets give that motherfucker what's coming to him." I grinned back.

No sooner had I said it, Shaundi was the first to ease by me, already leading the way as Pierce and I followed suit to the elevator. My fingers tapped against the cool steel of my pistols and I glanced at Shaundi every so often. Her face was blank and her jaw was clenched.

No sooner had we got outside there was a purple Infuego parked out front, Shaundi was already stalking towards it. I caught up to here and gently clapped a hand on her shoulder.

"Shaundi…you sure you wanna do this?" I asked, but I already knew her answer.

She looked at me, nodding assuredly, "Yeah, Boss. Don't worry about me. Loren has to pay for what the fuck he did, and I'm gonna be there when that dick gets what he deserves."

"Don't worry girl, we ain't just going for Loren. We're taking out the whole fucking Syndicate." Pierce chimed in as he slipped into the passenger seat of the car.

I walked around to the side of the car as Shaundi snorted at him and got in the back, "I'm pretty certain we're gonna need to take down more than one person before we stop the Syndicate."

"Well shit, we ain't take that bomb for nothing though." He retorted, slipping on his seatbelt.

I rolled my eyes, twisting the keys in the ignition and starting the car. "Lord, you two better not start arguing on the way here."

"She started it…" Pierce mumbled childishly as we pulled off, and I shot him a look.

"Boss, how hard do you think it'll be to find Loren?" Shaundi asked, her steely gaze meeting mine in the rearview mirror.

"Tch, if that fool is dumb enough to go holing himself up in a big tower, then like any other criminal mastermind he's gonna be at the top floor."

"How're you so sure?"

I smiled at her lazily as the car coasted through central park, a few unlucky pedestrians bouncing off the hood of the car. "Trust me, I know. Its an ego thing, the whole power trip shit."

"Think it'll be easy?" She asked, and I heard the _kcht-tchk _of her rifle as she loaded it.

"Oh, trust me sweetie. It won't be." I grinned, pressing my foot on the gas and weaving through traffic. "But it doesn't matter, we're killing everyone in there."

I made a sharp turn, swerving up the road and Pierce yelped as we barreled down the streets. Unfortunately for everyone else, I dislike pedestrians because they're forever in the way and inconveniencing me. So therefore, they get ran over.

"Goddamit Boss, that's like the 5th person you've hit!" He cried as an old woman went sliding off the roof and tumbling to the pavement in a smear of blood.

I pressed a finger to my lips and looked at him blankly, "Do you hear that, Pierce? That's the sound of forgiveness."

He shot me a dirty look, "No, motherfucker, that's the sound of people getting ran the fuck over!"

"And that's what forgiveness sounds like." I smirked darkly, "Screaming…and then silence."

He groaned loudly as the car jumped the curb, plowing down a few innocents and streaking the sidewalks with blood. I grinned wider; this was giving me such a rush right now.

"Hey, does the crew have the right address and whatever for the delivery?" I asked quickly, easing the car between two parked cars.

"Oh yeah, as long as the dock's all clear, the crew will bring it in." Pierce replied, flipping the mirror down and checking himself out. His eyes caught sight of the brunette who was still examining her rifle.

"How long are you gonna keep checking that gun?"

Her green eyes snapped up and met his curious gaze in the mirror, "Well how fucking long will it take us to get there?"

"I was just asking…" He muttered, folding his arms over his broad chest.

"Don't make me turn this car around you two!" I snapped lightheartedly, and the two annoyed groans just made me grin even harder.

I squinted in the distance, the monstrous tower was upon us, and it looked far more imposing the more I stared at it. And it was vaguely dawning on me that this place would be armed more heavily than Fort Knox.

Too late to change my mind now.

The car skidded hard, bursting through the security gate as I turned it straight into the docking bay entry and stopping midway up the ramp. I drew my guns and shared a look with my lieutenants before we all jumped out the car, running towards the docking bay.

My intuition was right; Morningstar were crawling all over the place, and had obviously anticipated us coming here. Go figure.

"They sure ain't fucking around here!" Pierce shouted at me, as we ducked behind one of the parked semi-trucks.

They really weren't, they had snipers waiting in here too.

I looked at the Blossoms at my thighs longingly, they were begging to be used. But those bullets needed to be conserved, considering how fast I would go through them. However the docking bay is crowded, and that bomb needs to get here.

Blossoms it is.

I gave a silent nod to Shaundi, who sprang up from beside me to divert their' attention and I rolled off to the back of the truck, aiming at one of the snipers on the concrete staircase.

I fired with a giddy smile, three shots; two to the torso and one straight to the head. He stumbled about clumsily, blood oozing profusely from the hole in his jaw and I scoffed. I fired again, and this time he went down.

They get more and more persistent nowadays, I swear.

I climbed on top of the hood, using a bit of momentum to hoist myself up on top of the storage component of the truck. It makes for an excellent vantage point.

My pistols went back in the holsters, and I pulled out the Blossoms and unleashed raging hell; Streaming bullets cascaded straight into Morningstar vehicles, the hoods coming alight with fire before exploding seconds later. Unfortunate Morningstar scum that so happened to be too close were set ablaze, or they were caught by Shaundi and Pierce blowing their heads off.

A bright red light fixated itself on my chest, and I looked up to find the source. Still another sniper left on the opposite side of the room, this bastard was determined not to get hit.

"Should've brought the rocket launcher…" I mumbled ruefully, I know full well that bastard wouldn't be able to dodge that. I leapt down, the crack of the rifle ringing through the air as the bullet found its mark in the passenger door of the truck.

Shaundi had one Morningstar female as a shield, she was slowly advancing in the direction of the sniper. But he saw this, though, and the red beam went aiming straight for Shaundi's head. He fired and missed his mark, instead the bullet crashed into Shaundi's shield, the woman's entire face a blood-ridden mess.

Shaundi cursed, now her good outfit was covered in blood and bits of brain matter and skin. She let the lifeless body go with a growl, "For fuck's sake!"

"Girl, quit trippin'!" Pierce hollered at her with a laugh, spraying a few Morningstar lurking behind a charred out vehicle with the bullets from his Krukov.

"Fuck you, Pierce!" She shouted back, aiming her SMG at the railing where the pale fuck was hiding and firing off a few rounds.

"You two can fuck each other later, we have a job to do remember?" I said playfully, ignoring the shocked look on Shaundi's face as she gaped at me.

"Fuck you say?" Pierce barked, his face twisting into a grimace.

"I'm only stating the obvious!" I sang out, running past Shaundi and up the short staircase. I wanted this asshole up close and personal.

I ambushed the sniper, who with some type of unnatural speed was actually dodging my bullets. I furrowed my brow, he looked disgusting. I've never seen someone so abnormally pale like that ever in my life.

"Hold still you fuckshit!" I hissed, running up on the bastard and swinging the barrel of my SMG at him.

He ducked with a creepy smile, and using the butt of his McManus, swung it straight into my already abused ribs. I snarled lowly, a sharp thrum of pain coursing back through my system.

Fucking dick.

I raised my leg, catching him in the temple with a well-placed high kick. The pointed stiletto heel of my boot scraped across his forehead leaving a bloody indentation. And who said that heels aren't practical?

He yelled, a hand flying up to his bloody face before I aimed both my Blossoms and let loose the rest of the clips into the bastard. The wall behind him was splotched with red, his body a bullet ridden, pallid mess as his blood saturated the ground.

"Nice job, Boss, you ok?" Shaundi's voice came up from behind me, it was tinged with concern.

I waved a hand at her lazily, "I'm fine, I'm fine. Clearly."

She sighed at me quietly, walking over and nudging me with her shoulder gently. "You don't have to pretend like you're not hurt, y'know."

I spared a glance at her green eyes, they were bright but her face still expressed some worry. "I'm not pretending here, I was being honest."

She narrowed her eyes at me, about to say something to contradict me I'm certain, before Pierce's voice cut through the moment.

"The boys are here!" He shouted just a bevy of purple cars came hurtling into the parking lot, all of them screeching to a halt. One more car, rather a truck, pulled in carefully behind them.

The bomb, delivered exactly as I ordered.

I smirked evilly, my fingers itching to set this thing off but no sooner had we made our way over to it, a few of the boys made a startled cry of horror. I looked back and cursed to all the high heavens; yet another fucking Hulk-baby. It was followed by a few Morningstar men.

The only good thing about this one was that it wasn't sporting a weapon.

The boys opened fire, as the behemoth bounded down the stairs slowly before storming over to them.

"Guys, get outta the way!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, the crew made a mad scramble in all directions to get away from the hulking titan. Fortunately for them, he tackled one of the cars that they had shown up in, letting out a frustrated bellow.

I reached at my belt for a grenade, swiftly yanking the plug and throwing it at the thing, it smacked him right in the face. He stumbled back in confusion only for a second, before his ugly face wrinkled right back up in blind rage just as the grenade went off.

It was still too close to the car he tackled, the vehicle blew up right along with him. The powerful explosion appeared to be enough to kill the godforsaken thing, which is all I need to know. The body was a giant, burned mass on the floor.

I looked back after hearing a brief rang of gunfire; the crew took care of the few Morningstar that accompanied that thing pretty quick.

"That all of em?" Pierce asked me quickly, he was waiting at the top of the staircase.

"Looks like it. Lets set this shit." I replied, quickly walking over to the truck and stopping in front of the control pad on the bomb. I punched in a few numbers before hitting the bright green button to set this baby off.

"Alright, we got fifteen minutes!" I shouted, sprinting over to the staircase while simultaneously reloading my Blossoms.

Shaundi was at my heel her face looking confused, "Uhm…Boss? Why didn't we set the bomb _after_ we killed Loren?"

I stopped in my tracks, the sudden stupidity of what I just did slapping me like a ton of bricks.

Oh dammit.

Now we really had to rush and find the fuckwad. Great.

"Shit…look, let's just fucking go already!" I grimaced, storming by Pierce and down the hallway to a small elevator. The doors dinged open, and once Pierce and Shaundi had slipped inside, I was furiously pressing the button for the top floor.

The elevator began to move, and only for a second did it strike me as odd that Loren didn't have something stronger than the docking bay goons waiting for us…

I really hate it when I jinx myself.

The elevator jerked violently, coming to an abrupt stop and I stumbled back into Pierce, bumping into his strong chest.

"What'd you do!?" Shaundi screeched at me, her voice laced with anger.

"I don't fucking know, it just stopped!" I growled, as the doors dinged open again this time into another hallway. I glanced quickly at the floor we were on, it said floor 57, and the top floor was floor 70 I do believe.

"_Did you really expect to waltz right up to my office when I control the whole building?"_

I growled lowly at the sound of Loren's heavily accented voice over the intercom, a new surge of anger burning through my veins. I knew this shit seemed too easy. I just knew it.

But there was nowhere else to go except forward.

I charged ahead, Blossoms raised high as we were automatically greeted with more Morningstar.

Pierce, Shaundi and I opened fire, trading gunfire with the shits in red as I strained to see what was in the dark room that they were guarding. I heard a _boom _somewhere in the distance, I guess something explosive was in the way and got blown up. A few of the goons were now flailing and screaming on fire.

I scoffed, firing my Blossoms again as the bullets pelted into the bodies, blood spraying all over the dingy floors.

I cautiously advanced into the dark room, before a single beam of red light was now focusing itself on my chest. Not again.

I ducked behind a row of computers, quickly scanning the rafters and platforms for the source as Pierce and Shaundi crouched low and joined by my side. I spotted the bald head not too far away, and thankfully I decided to keep one of the McManus' that those snipers had dropped.

I loaded the rifle, squatting on my knees with the rifle carefully balanced on my shoulder; the bald bastard still didn't see us and peeked from his hiding spot for a second.

No sooner did he do so, the bullet punched straight through the middle of his forehead, he fell back onto the metal flooring with a thud.

"Smooth." I smirked, giving myself a mental pat on the back as I shifted the rifle over my shoulder and onto my back.

"The fuck is this place?" Pierce queried in bewilderment, as I finally took in what the hell he was seeing.

It was a lab of sorts, probably what one could compare to a mad scientist's. Glowing pink capsules were suspended in the air, various containers and tanks of chemicals were around and I squinted at the capsules. Something was in them?

"Are those the fucking monsters we've been fighting?" Shaundi said in semi-shock, "They have clones here?"

I cringed internally, "Jesus, what the fuck are these people doing in here?"

"Nothing good." the brunette mumbled darkly, her eyes lingering on one of the pods.

"We gotta keep moving." I stated quickly, brushing by my lieutenants and making my way down a short staircase, another small group of Morningstar were there. I ducked behind a large container, I have no idea what the hell it is but I'm just hoping it doesn't blow up.

I traded my guns, taking out my Shepards again ad Pierce and Shaundi rejoined me and we opened fire on the guards, killing them quickly.

"So, uh, what do we call these guys?" Pierce asked sheepishly, nodding towards one of the pods.

"Who gives a damn, they're getting blown up with the rest of this fucking place!" Shaundi snapped back, as we headed up another staircase to the second platform.

"How bout bricks?" Pierce continued, ignoring her. "They hit like they're made of the stuff."

"Bricks? Seriously?" The brunette reeled, casting a look over her shoulder at him.

"Well shit, you got something better in mind?"

"Yeah, how about Steve?" Shaundi replied tartly, rolling her eyes as she slapped a fresh magazine into her SMG.

"Bricks sounds better." Pierce grinned, ignoring the scowl present on Shaundi's lovely face.

I rolled my eyes, bounding up another staircase, to a third platform, and then to a fourth, another wave of Morningstar were awaiting us up here.

My pistols banged noisily, a satisfied smile crossing my face as the bullets found home in eye sockets, foreheads and chests. One Morningstar dupe came too close for my liking, I grit my teeth and aimed my gun at his crotch, firing as he howled in pain.

Music to my ears.

Shaundi materialized beside me, a dark smile on her face. "That's fuckin' dirty." She smirked, pressing the heel of her boot onto the man's face for a second before raising her leg and slamming into his jaw, cracking it.

"Both of ya'll are outta your goddamn minds…" Pierce mumbled lowly, elbowing one girl in the face before spraying her with some bullets from his Krukov as she tumbled over the railing.

"Bitch, bitch, bitch." I chirped, leading the way towards the next staircase ahead before stopping in my tracks with a yelp.

Another Hulk-thing was stomping this way from upstairs, but this one was the pyrotechnic upgrade. I could tell just from looking at the flame retardant suit and gloves it was sporting.

Shit.

"Does that thing have a fuckin' flamethrower!?" Shaundi screeched, running back to the staircase and opening fire.

"Looks like it!" I yelled back, diving over a table just as the thing hurtled by me like a runaway freight train.

I spotted the obvious weakness, the twin gasoline tanks on its back. Provided we could corner it, this would make for an easy kill.

"Aim for the tanks on its back!" I shouted to my lieutenants, who quickly began to open fire as the thing began stampeding in their direction.

I unloaded the full clip of my Shepards at the thing's back, the bullets made heavy dents in the metal and I saw the breech; a spewing flame shooting out the back of one the tanks.

"Almost got 'im, Boss!" Pierce shouted somewhere, jamming a fresh magazine into his Krukov before he cursed, a spray of flame had just barely nicked him. The heat seared overhead intensely, beads of sweat had already began to accumulate on his brow.

He rolled off to the right, diving over a row of computers that had been damaged in the gunfire trading. "Fuckin' hell!"

"Are you alright, Pierce!?" Shaundi called out, as she opened fire again at the thing's back, another rupture in the tanks causing a second streamline of flame to spew out.

The dark man ruefully glanced at the singed part of his good suit, the dark char mark would certainly not go away. "My fucking suit is ruined, but yeah I'm good!"

I squinted, being entirely certain that my lieutenants were nowhere nearby, and tossed the grenade over the railing as it bounced down to the Hulk-thing's feet. It went off automatically; the explosion in conjunction with the fuel from its flamethrower sent the huge body flying into a set of computers nearby, breaking them and messily toppling to the ground.

"Whew…that coulda got nasty." Pierce huffed, wiping his forehead.

I spared a quick glance at my phone, not much time left. I reloaded my guns, stooping down over one of the bodies for a second and taking an extra magazine.

"We gotta keep moving." I ordered, motioning for them to follow me as we headed back upstairs.

We made it to the next staircase on the fourth platform, quickly heading down the short rafter before a cluster of footsteps caught my attention as I raised a hand, motioning my lieutenants to halt.

I yanked the plug on my last grenade, throwing it ahead of me as lo and behold, another set of Morningstar were ready to ambush us. Unfortunately for them, that was very short-lived.

We reached the end of the corridor, a faint blue light glowing from somewhere inside the next room.

* * *

Too long.

Too long have I been here in this…this hell.

I remember not how many days, years, I have been in detainment…I stopped keeping track after a while. Days are always dreary here.

These dogs, they try daily to break my will. The taunting, the insulting names they call me, even so far as to strip me of my dignity - my clothes.

I long await the day where I can crush those sneering faces between my bare hands.

A sound, very much like gunfire reaches my ears. Am I to be hearing things now?

* * *

"What the dick?" I asked, awestruck at the sight before me.

There was a thing, suspended in front of me by polarized capsules all hooked up to a generator, it looked exactly the same as the monsters we had been fighting and those suspended in the pods. But this one seemed…different somehow.

"I take it you are here to be saving me, _da_?" It spoke, a heavy Slavic accent with underlying tones of suspicion.

"We don't need another one of these things trying to attack us, for fuck's sake this whole containment system is probably keeping it alive!" Pierce whispered in my ear sharply, sparing a nervous glance at the titan.

"Please, I would not attack my comrades." The titan stated earnestly, "For Loren, I am master copy. His brutes have my brawn, but not my brain."

"How do we even know we can trust you?" I quipped defensively, casting a dubious look at Shaundi who shrugged back.

"I'm telling you man…last time a big naked dude asked me for help, it did _not_ end well." Pierce murmured with frown.

"Please…" It growled lowly, looking me dead in the eye. "I am still strong enough to fight Loren."

I looked at my lieutenants, they looked wary of it, but at this point we need all the help we can get. We aimed and opened fire on the capsules binding his arms and legs, the glass material shattering from the hail of bullets as he landed on the ground.

The titan rose before us, powerfully, and my dirty mind prompted me to spare a glance at his crotch. Impressive. Scary, but impressive.

He popped his neck, rotating the otherwise tense muscles in his ligaments that had been strained for so long.

"You, uh…you want some clothes, man?" Pierce asked sheepishly, averting his gaze to the ceiling and the floor. Anything to keep from seeing that…_his_ nudity.

"No time." The titan snarled, pushing by us and leading the way.

* * *

Oookay. I decided to break this up into two parts. So, second part shall be up soon. And a few quotes in this chapter are a product of me watching Llamas in Hats on you tube and eating too much sugary things before bed. Cripes.

Anyways, read and review!


	8. Calling Down the Thunder pt 2

**A/N: **Hey guys, been a little slow. Bought SR4 and basically went into hibernation. I'd insert some spoilers here, but you'll probably find all that stuff on Youtube. Lawds the joy. (is shipping Gat x Boss so hard right now) Might do some more oneshots and whatnot while I write this, but it'll only be once I put down the damn controller.

Its calling me again…what is life? Should I acquire one of those?

Shall we continue?

* * *

_**-Chapter 7: Calling Down the Thunder pt. 2-**_

* * *

I've experienced many awkward things in my life.

Very many things.

For instance, when I finally awoke from that coma and puberty slapped me in the face late. Or should I say it falcon-punched me in the uterus. After being out of it for so long, it took a while for my period to uh…regulate itself again.

That was bad.

Or that other time I walked in on Shaundi masturbating in a sombrero. I don't know what the hell happened, all I know was I was going to take a nap and…better yet let's not talk about that.

But none compare to this right now.

Here I am, or should I say was, leading my lieutenants to lay siege to Loren's armed tower…and instead I'm staring at the chiseled buttcheeks of a behemoth.

I can't stop staring either considering he's leading the way now to Loren's office. Sad to say, but I find it mildly fascinating.

Or it might just be because I'm a bit of a pervert.

Ah well.

I would discreetly glance and Shaundi now and again, she had her eyes trained on the Hulk-thing's back. As for Pierce…he was intentionally lagging behind me a little, all to keep from seeing as he said, 'a big naked dude' running in front of him.

Don't blame him.

The only positive thing about this situation was that this…thing was at least on our side. For now.

"This elevator will take us to the offices." The titan stated, already pressing the button to call it to our floor.

Shaundi blinked and nudged my shoulder, "How're we all gonna fit?" she whispered, her eyes flickering back to the giant.

I shrugged at her, not like I had an answer.

We had crammed inside the elevator at the end of the hallway, and came to a stop at floor 65.

"Follow me to Loren's offices!" the behemoth said, his accent thickening as he stomped forward.

"Seriously man…" Pierce mumbled, scratching the back of his neck, "We can get you like…a curtain or a towel or something."

The titan spared the young lieutenant a glance, "The human body is nothing to be ashamed of, unless you have…_insecurities_."

Pierce blanched, throwing up his hands in defeat, "I'm good, man. I'm good."

I smirked, watching the titan's back as he began marching up a staircase. I only spared a quick glance at my surroundings - all star motifs on the doors and red and pink carpets. Yuck.

"So…uh," I started, hastening my pace to keep up with the big guy, "You got a name, sweetie?"

"I am Oleg Kirrlov." He stated flatly, rounding the up the second flight of stairs and bursting through another set of doors.

That's a start.

"So, Oleg…what did you used to do before the Syndicate turned you into a glorified pin-cushion?" I asked bluntly, as he turned and halted.

Maybe I should have rephrased that.

He eyed me, his mouth tensing into a straight line, "I do believe it best for our friendship that I never elaborate."

I nodded briefly, I'm certainly not going to pry and the last thing I want is him offended. "That's fine, your business is your business."

Oleg flashed me a wan smile, "Just know the enemy of your enemy is your friend. For as long as you oppose the Syndicate, you have nothing to fear from me."

"I can dig it." Pierce shrugged with a quick smile.

"So can I. Welcome to the Saints." I smiled earnestly, receiving only a curt nod in return as we resumed following him. I stepped over a cowering office worker, sprinting after Oleg as he began up another flight of stairs.

For him to be so big, the guy is pretty fast.

This time, there was a long stretch of hallway, and from what I saw, another elevator at the far end.

"Loren's office is this way!" Oleg said, charging forward with Shaundi and I at his heels.

Then I saw someone, casually strolling to the elevator and stepping inside.

Fucking Loren!

I raised my pistol and fired at the elevator and each shot - all of them- _missed_. Loren had ever so languidly tilted his head as one bullet had brushed by him. The elevator doors closed, shielding the smirking fuck from my gun blazing fury.

"Dammit!" I hissed, pounding a fist against the sealed doors.

"That's an express elevator to the basement, you'll never be able to catch him." Oleg said, his voice tinged with defeat.

"Fuck that!" I growled back, there was no fucking way that bastard was getting away from me so easily.

But how was I gonna catch up with that goddamn elevator?

I looked around quickly, before my eyes darted up to the ceiling and saw just what I needed - a megaton counterweight.

The large spherical ball was lodged into the ceiling, but it could still be dismantled. Perfect.

"Boss, what're we gonna -…Boss?" Pierce called out to me, but I was already running towards the railings.

I jumped, grabbing hold of the giant weight and dangling there. "Knock this goddamn thing loose! That fucker isn't leaving here alive!"

"Leave it to me." Oleg's voice echoed just as I distantly heard some doors slamming open and looked down, Morningstar henchmen were beginning to fill the circular balconies.

I fired, plucking off as many as I could from so high up, the bullets from Shaundi and Pierce's guns were rattling close by. I grit my teeth, my bullets needed to be conserved for Loren.

"Hurry up!" I shouted, I vaguely realized I had no idea where Oleg had just went.

The sphere suddenly lurched, I looked up to see Oleg disconnecting whatever beams and cables that were keeping this thing from falling. He nodded at me, yanking one more cable before the sphere gave way and began to hurtle down the circular opening in the floor.

"I'm coming for that ass, Loren!" I screeched as the ball plummeted down the shaft.

The ball would definitely catch up, considering how fast it was going - everything was a giant blur of red, blacks and pink. I redoubled my effort to hang on to this ball of death, because should I fall off -

_THUD._

And once again I jinx myself.

I heard an inhuman bellow, if I were stupid I would've thought it were Oleg. But no, it was one of the 'brutes' he had mentioned. And this thing was going to get us both killed!

"Shit, fuck'n hell!" I swore, unsteadily aiming my gun at the thing's face and firing as it tried to pull itself towards me. The clip was out, quickly, I chucked the gun at him and took out the Blossom on my thigh and resumed fire.

Fuckin' die, fuckin' die, fuckin' die…

It stood, powerfully, raising a hand which I already knew was going to swat me off like a bug - I shrieked, firing in panic at the thing's face. The eyes were gone, the face covered with blood as it clumsily stumbled and lost its balance - and went flying off the sphere. Distantly I heard a heavy slam against the walls.

Dead, I'm certain.

The ball continued to hurtle downwards, the walls spiraling above me in hues of red.

_God please…let me catch this fucker…_

I felt air stinging into my eyes and I thought back to my prayer this morning.

_God, Jesus, Buddha, please…_

I can't let him down, I can't let what he did go in vain. This isn't about me anymore.

_Its for Johnny._

* * *

The elevator dinged quietly, as the silver-haired gentleman stepped out into the empty docking bay. His nose turned up in disgust automatically, the area was riddled with bodies. Purple clad, only a few, but red mostly.

Accursed Saints.

He casually strolled forward, his limo was awaiting out front where he would rejoin Viola and Kiki to plan the next move against -

He paused, some type of strange grinding sound reaching his ears.

What was that?

Then he looked up.

* * *

The iron ball made a loud _slam_, a muffled crunching sound following the impact with the concrete as I slipped off and dropped to my feet. The ball began to roll, down the ramp, crushing my car in its wake and out into the parking lot.

My legs were shaking, my entire body was trembling. I distantly remembered Loren should be showing up any second, before I looked down at the crater the ball left upon impact.

I grinned, wide, to the point that my cheeks were beginning to hurt.

That crunch I heard, was Loren's bastard self getting crushed to death. His body was nothing more than a bloody, pulpy, flattened mess of cracked bones and the occasional tooth scattered here and there.

I stared at what was left of the body, my nose wrinkling up only for a minute since the ball had partially dragged out one of his intestines when it started to roll. It was a messy smear on the ground, detached and smushed like a worm.

I relished the sight.

I heard a ding, somewhere faintly, before I turned around and my eyes met up with my lieutenants and Oleg rushing my way.

"Jesus God, Boss, you ok?" Shaundi asked quickly as she ran over to me.

"Should've thought of a Belgian pancake joke…" I mumbled, ignoring the look she was giving me before she glanced down the crater.

She smiled, hocking once and spitting on the face, "Serves you right, you bastard."

"God-damn." Pierce grunted, shaking his head. "That motherfucker most def ain't comin' back."

"Now this place gets blown the fuck up, right Boss?" Shaundi asked sharply, though it sounded like more of a demand.

"I despise this place more than anyone, but it would be most unwise to destroy Loren's work without seeing what you could salvage from it." The titan said calmly, clapping a huge hand on my shoulder.

"We're here to send a message." The brunette snarled, her green gaze meeting Oleg's.

"This is all up to you, Boss. Your call." Pierce said, attempting to be the rational one.

I looked back and forth between my lieutenants and the trucks. It was still my call, Pierce was right, but I was unsure. I told my team that we were blowing the building up indefinitely, but Oleg had a point. I was highly certain there were some beneficial things we could pick up from this building, maybe something to stop the creation of those brutes.

Waste it all or keep it all?

I walked over to the truck, eyeing the ticking bomb that would go off in a matter of minutes. I sighed quietly, pressing a few buttons.

I made my decision.

**-XXXXXXXXX-**

I followed the wisps of smoke with my eyes, watching with dazed interest how they furled and unfurled into the air. I took another puff from the stick, blowing the smoke into the air again and repeating the process.

I really shouldn't be pondering the mystery of life in smoke fumes, but my mind kept wandering right back to the same question.

Where does it all go?

It doesn't just vanish -which would be utterly absurd- it has to go somewhere.

Everything has to go somewhere right?

Things don't just disappear, they're always in the place you look last or with that one person you forgot you gave it to.

The same rule applies with people. People don't just vanish. They die, they get abducted, they leave, or they hide.

But to disappear into thin air, that's the makings of something only God and Houdini can pull off.

I heard the gentle creak of a door, the sounds of shoes crunching over the gravel rooftop before Pierce was by my side, adjusting the brim of his hat.

I looked at him critically, his face was blank and unreadable. "Well? Did you do what I asked?"

He sighed heavily, his face looking somber, "Yeah…yeah I did. We couldn't find anything."

A feeling swelled in my chest like I had been punched, "Are you sure? There's no possible -"

He raised a hand to silence me, "Boss…I'm telling you the truth. The boys and I looked all up and through that plane. Not a single trace of Gat's body anywhere."

I frowned, the realization slowly seeping into my mind, "But Pierce…he can't just…vanish. He's gotta be somewhere, there's no other way."

"Well, we checked the tower already since you decided to keep it…no body in there either." He responded, his eyes averting to the sky.

I clamped my mouth shut, biting the inside of my cheek. This was bad. Really bad.

No body, no Johnny.

How?

I requested in private that Pierce take a few of the guys and go excavating the wreckage, just to see if the media was censoring that tidbit of information from the public.

A part of me was hoping that they were, and they had left the body there. After all, there was way more than one body on that plane, surely they couldn't have gotten all of them fished out yet.

Right?

I grimaced, slamming my fist against the ground, the rocks left a trail of ash on my knuckles. "Fucking kidding me?"

My lieutenant sighed again, dragging a hand over his smooth face, "I dunno what to tell you, Boss. We searched everywhere."

I really didn't know what to say, I felt…blank. A part of me had already braced itself for the bad news that Gat was dead…the other part of me braced itself for good news, that he might be alive.

What I got was a confirmation of neither.

"You gonna tell Shaundi?" Pierce asked, his trained on my face.

I grunted, "No…no. We can't." I shook my head, burying my face in my hands. She didn't need to know there wasn't a body. There'd be no telling how she'd take it. But, I was already preparing the funeral arrangements…she'd want proof.

"What about the funeral?" He queried, as though reading my mind.

I paused, looking at him with empty eyes and I bit my lip. "I…we're still having one."

Pierce raised a brow at me, "With no body?"

I reeled on him, "It doesn't need a fucking body. Closed casket, if anybody asks, he was burned up in the wreckage."

I glared at him, but my own words were viciously attacking my conscience. Jesus, what if that was what happened to his body?

Pierce shook his head, "I know you're upset girl, we all are."

"He was my fucking best friend, Pierce. Upset isn't the fucking word for it."

"Yeah, I know." He said quietly, turning on his heel and heading back towards the roof door of the apartment. "But y'know…I think he'd be proud."

I sighed heavily, tossing my cigar butt over the edge of the roof and looked out onto the streets. Meaningless lives, meaningless existences.

That's all I saw.

All of these people were content with the ordinary, the contrite, the mundane. Going to the store, going home to families, sleeping in and ordering takeout from Phuc Me Phuc Yue.

I smiled bitterly; They all probably had more reason to get up in the morning than what I had right now.

They all probably had something to look forward to seeing during the day than what I had right now.

Because right now, I have nothing.

I had done what was necessary for the Saints, what was necessary for myself -revenge.

Loren was dead, and the Syndicate can't function without its chairman there to head them. It shouldn't, at least so I assume.

I stood up, dusting off the bottom of my jeans and walking back inside the building. I needed a strong drink, and a trip to the Broken Shillelagh seemed like the remedy.

No sooner had I reached the apartment door, it flung open and I was met with an enraged brunette.

"Shaundi? You ok?"

She glared at me, "I'm going to the fucking bar, I need a fucking drink. Come with me."

I started to suggest that I should drive, but she grabbed my hand and stormed down the stairs with me in tow, I half stumbled to keep up with her. A silver Kenshin was parked next to the curb, Shaundi made a beeline straight to it.

"Get on." She said curtly, revving up the engine.

I made no protest and jumped right on the back, snaking my arms around her small waist as she leaned left and we peeled out into the streets.

City lights and cars whizzed by us, Shaundi was tearing hellfire to the pavement as we reached the little bar in a matter of minutes. Aside from a few people outside having a drink and some smokes, it wasn't crowded tonight.

I followed her inside, assuming a seat beside her as she tapped the counter with her nails to get the bartender's attention. She ordered Jack & Coke, and I, a nice tall glass of rum with a shot of scotch.

The wall-clock in the corner ticked quietly as we sipped our drinks, I was enjoying the warm, burning feeling ebbing at my throat before Shaundi finally spoke.

"I saw the news." She said coldly, staring into the glass.

I froze, mid-sip, and slowly lowered the glass away from my lips. "You…you did?"

"Yeah. We should've just blown up that fucking tower." She replied tartly, taking another sip from her glass.

I had to restrain the audible sigh of relief that she hadn't seen the news from two nights ago. "I mean…look. It'll probably still give us a better advantage against the Syndicate, Oleg had a point."

"Why the fuck are we taking advice from a goddamn experiment gone awry?" She snapped, her green eyes fixed on me.

I grit my teeth, "Shaundi, Oleg hasn't given us reason to doubt him. Give the guy a chance."

She scoffed, "You said the same shit about Birk, and that's precisely how we ended up here."

I glared, slapping my glass on the counter with more force than intended, "Don't forget who the fuck you're talking to, here."

She looked at me, miffed, before sighing and planting her face in her hands. "Boss…I'm sorry. Ok? I am."

I snorted, taking another sip from my glass. "Yeah, whatever. Its fine."

She shook her head, "No…really. I just…I dunno. Everything just fucking sucks lately." She dragged her hands through her hair, "Everything's just been so fucking bad ever since we came to Steelport."

I immediately calmed down, seeing the dismayed expression on her face. "Its been hard on me too, but at least its finally over." I said quietly, as she glanced at me out the corner of her eye.

"Is it really?"

I blanched, "I mean…sure. Yeah, sure. Nobody's heading the Syndicate anymore so what the fuck could they possibly hit us with?"

She stared at me blankly, before averting her gaze back to her now empty glass. "I guess…I guess you're right."

"If its any consolation…we go home tomorrow." I said calmly, though dreading the thought.

I watched her tap her fingers against the glass, "What about…" She started and stopped, a sudden feeling of moroseness stilling the air.

I exhaled through my nose, "Johnny."

She nodded quickly, biting at her bottom lip.

"Well…" I mentally debated if I should tell her this or not, but it needed to be done. "Funeral's tomorrow, procession leaves here and back to Stilwater."

Shaundi jerked her head up, eyes wide, "What?…no…what?"

"What's wrong?"

"A fucking funeral? We didn't even look for the plane -"

"We did." I said quietly, frowning at the shocked look on her face. "I sent Pierce and a few of the boys to excavate the wreckage but they didn't find anything."

"No…no. That can't be right." She said, shaking her head with tears brimming in her eyes, "He was there in the plane. He was fucking there, we heard him -"

"I know."

"Then how could you not find him!" She screamed, angrily pounding her fist on the counter.

"Because he wasn't fucking there!" I hissed, my blood starting to boil.

"You're wrong. They didn't fucking look hard enough -"

"Shaundi," I grated out, my patience had finally reached its end, "There was no body. Pierce wouldn't lie about something like that."

She snapped her mouth shut, brows quivering as she stood up suddenly and stormed out the bar, leaving me alone. I faintly heard the sounds of a motorcycle raring to life before a shriek of tires and the engine zooming off into the distance.

She'd need time to cope.

I took another sip of my drink, down to the last droplet, setting the glass down and letting the warm feeling soothe me.

"_But y'know…I think he'd be proud."_

I laced my fingers together, resting my forehead against them and I felt a dull thrum of a headache coming on in the left side of my brain.

Shaundi was right, everything had turned to complete and utter shit ever since we got here. But, it was over now.

Maybe somebody up there heard my prayer.

"_I fucking promise."_

I sniffed, wiping my nose on the sleeve of my jacket.

You promised me. You lied.

* * *

Agh. Short chapter, sorry about that and sorry for falling off the back of the planet. Read and review!


	9. Exodus pt1

**A/N: **So. I have officially decided to write something for SR4 and its literally taking all my strength to not jump the gun and start that instead before finishing this here. I mean…I could. Technically. And simply not post it…but then I'll be mad cuz its still there and just….fuck my thought process.

Its so difficult. And I've hardly had any freetime to myself lately. Jesus.

Whatever. Here we go.

* * *

_**- Chapter 8: Exodus pt.1 -**_

* * *

I'm starting to get used to the dreary vibe of Steelport, the city that never sleeps and eats people alive. I mean, there's more deaths that occur just from traffic accidents out here alone than from gang activity in this city. Makes me feel less bad about when I go blazing through red lights, at least I make sure there aren't cars around when I do.

I checked my watch for the umpteenth time, it was 8:48 PM and Pierce was supposed to have been here at 8:30. He's late, and I know this shouldn't be some kind of fashionable shenanigan.

I was going to call, but I decided not to rush it.

It would be the last night in this godforsaken city for the Saints, a big sigh of relief for all of us.

For my lieutenants and I especially.

The stress caused by hunting down Loren for the last week had eased up but the tension sure as hell didn't. Pierce was being selective with his words, but Shaundi was still on edge.

But it had flipped from the pissed off kind to the melancholy variety, and most certainly not in a subtle way.

I hadn't talked to Shaundi since last night, when I finally spilled the beans about the Syndicate plane. Naturally she didn't take it well, as I already anticipated. I'm not fully sure how I wanted her to take it but I wasn't expecting her to storm out the bar and leave me.

She had actually been avoiding me since this morning, not answering my calls and texts.

I didn't blame her, really.

My stilettos clacked against the tiled floors as I walked over to the bar to pour myself a drink while I wait for my lieutenant. All this morning was spent dealing with funeral arrangements and prep and such.

Everything was ready to go with minimalist effort; flowers, obituaries, a plot in Mourning Woods next to Aisha's grave and the crew already obtained a hearse.

The only thing needed was a casket, even though there was nothing to put inside it.

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to just say fuck it and cancel the whole thing. I hate funerals with a passion, and usually 9 times out of 10 I never make an effort to attend them.

Not just because its morbid and sad, but because emotions go riding high. I also get extremely bizarre, creepy vibes in cemeteries. Even when I attended Aisha's funeral, it gave me the chills.

I had Gat's hoodie on again, burying my face inside the soft material and inhaling the scent. This is the closest I'll get to hugging him again and the mere thought was starting to work at my nerves.

I rather liked how quiet it was here at the HQ, most of the crew had already vacated the premises therefore this place was empty, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

My phone suddenly vibrated with a text, and I slowly pulled it out my front pocket. It was from Pierce.

'_Everything's all set, you ready to leave?'_

I drank the last of the vodka I had poured, silently surveying the crib and quite frankly, I'm not going to miss this place when I leave. I won't miss Steelport, and if I ever had to return it would still be too soon.

'_Yeah, I'm ready. Be down in a second.' _

I hit send, leaving my glass on the counter and sliding off the barstool. I slipped the hood back over my head and stuffed my hands in the front pockets as I dragged myself towards the elevator.

This had me feeling some kind of way, mostly tired I think. But there was something else there, that proverbial 'bad feeling' one may get during times like this, and I'm not entirely sure why I have it. Maybe its just because of the funeral, that's probably why.

I pressed the button signaling down and waited for the elevator to open. A few seconds passed before the soft ding and the doors slid open. My mind flashed briefly to the thought of curling up somewhere with a dreary book, and Edgar Allen Poe was always my remedy for bad days.

"Quoth the raven…" I muttered under my breath as the doors slid shut.

_Nevermore._

* * *

"Tell me, Matty. Do you have a location on the Saints leader?"

"_The Saints appear to be exiting Steelport in a funeral procession. Monica Hughes is arriving from the Senate at 9:00 to officially open the new Hughes Memorial bridge between Steelport and Stilwater._

"Excellent."

* * *

Andreaya took a small drag of her cigarette, exhaling the smoke fumes out the window as she slouched in her seat. She looked at her phone to check the time and made an annoyed groan.

"Fuckin' serious right now? We're gonna be late!" she growled at the driver, who gave her a flat stare in response.

"The fuck do you want me to do girl? I ain't ask to get stuck in traffic for some long-winded ass speech!" Pierce shot back, slumping against the steering wheel.

They were gridlocked in traffic, bumper to bumper with not a smidgen of a gap anywhere to squeeze out. Andreaya had spent most of her time cursing and mumbling obscenities, and it was everything in her power to not just pistol whip the cunt that was gabbing away just a few cars in front. It wasn't even anything special the woman, man…whoever the balls it was -was going on about.

Just cut the fucking tape and get the dick out the way.

She was entirely certain the rest of her crew was just as irritated along with the other people who so happened to be caught up in this bullshit, she already anticipated a raging call from Shaundi who was behind the hearse. Quite frankly she was tempted to ask Oleg -whom requested to come along to the service out of respect - to plow down the speaker instead.

That probably wouldn't go too well as opposed to what she envisioned.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket as she slid it to her ear, "Yeah, Shaundi?"

"_What the actual fuck is going on up there? We should've been back in Stilwater by now!" _

Right on time.

Andreaya sighed using one hand to rub at her temple, "Yeah, I know, I know."

"_Can I just fucking shoot them or something?" _Shaundi continued to rage, _"I don't fucking believe this! Who writes a goddamn monologue just to cut a ribbon for a bridge!"_

Andreaya grinned slightly, that was her exact train of thought. "No, Shaundi. Just be cool, they should be almost -" There was a sudden honking of horns and the unmistakable sound of screeching tires and burning rubber followed with gunshots. She pulled the phone away from her ear with a frown, exchanging a look with her lieutenant.

"Yo, what the fuck?" Pierce said in semi-shock, glancing out the wing mirror as the shrill blares of horns and gunshots began to resound through the air.

They were getting closer, louder.

"The fuck? Shaundi, what do you see back there?" Andreaya asked quickly, drawing her pistol out its holster and craning her head out the window. Too many cars behind her and she couldn't see a damn thing.

"_Shit, I dunno, I can't see anything…fuck me! Bunch of green trucks coming our way and they're armed!"_

"Fuck me sideways with a shovel..." Andreaya mumbled, drawing her head back as a bullet flew into the rear window of the car beside her. She pulled herself halfway out the window and opened fire, already spotting the large trucks plowing other cars right off the bridge as Shaundi had said.

"Fuck, Pierce, _drive_!" She yelled, pounding her fist against the roof of the car as Pierce jammed his foot on the gas and began to maneuver through the cars ahead. There was a loud grating sound -and the side mirror popped right off as the car scraped the paint off a white Justice.

"Sonofabitch! This is a rental!" He complained, reaching a free hand into the armrest to acquire his gun.

"Is that seriously what you're worried about right now?" She snapped as she reloaded her pistols.

"Well the deposit on this shit wasn't cheap y'know!" He responded sharply, speeding past the speaker who had all but narrowly avoided being turned into an impromptu hood ornament.

It turned to complete and utter mayhem in a matter of minutes, cars crashing into each other and some flying right off the bridge in an attempt to escape or simply by accident.

The procession of purple was now gunning it down the remaining stretch of the bridge, Andreaya and a few of her Saints that she could see were returning fire as much as possible to the green pursuers. They were a persistent lot and were gaining ground equally as fast as the Saints, one of the trucks had rear-ended one of the purple Blades and both vehicles went careening over the edge of the bridge.

"Fuck are these guys!?" Pierce shouted to her as he muttered a curse as a stray bullet blew out the back window. He was suddenly mentally grateful that there wasn't actually a corpse in the vehicle now. Especially not Gat's.

The Boss would've flipped her shit.

"I don't fucking know!" The Boss shouted back before she fired again, one of the bullets found home in the front tires of a green Compensator as it swerved violently, spinning out of control and crashing straight into a Kayak. The frontal collision caused both engines to ignite and promptly explode, flaming debris flying about.

She pushed back her long hair out her face, calculating how far they were from the threshold of Stilwater as the Row began to become more visible.

_Just a little bit closer_.

"Faster, Pierce! We're almost fucking there!" She squinted into the distance, making out the silhouette of the Phillips Building.

_Just a little more_.

"I got it floored!" He yelled, before a bevy of lights appeared off in the distance and caught his attention. "Fuck is that!?"

"What?" Andreaya looked up and screamed an expletive, the lights were missiles all firing indiscriminately at the bridge. Three crashed straight into one of the small metal archways, the bolts giving way as the arch piece came loose and falling down.

It made a reverberating clang, the forged steel collapsed right on top of one of the green assailants and just missing the purple Torch that Shaundi so happened to be driving by only a margin.

Andreaya almost sighed in relief, but to her dismay, whoever was firing still had plenty more where the first few rounds came from.

The bridge was being pelted with missiles, the powerful blows rocking the structure and only adding further to the chaos as the straggling few assholes in green continued their pursuit of the Saints.

A rogue missile exploded not too far behind her vehicle, but Shaundi couldn't maneuver in time to avoid the impact of the explosion and her Torch swerved and smacked right into the purple Criminal that Oleg was on and both flew right off the bridge.

"FUCK!" Andreaya swore with feeling, her crew had been picked off left and right and now it was only her and Pierce remaining. The fucks in green seemed to have diminished enough, if they could just make it back into Adept Way everything would be good.

Her eyes narrowed at the skyscrapers that seemed so close but still so far away. She slammed her fist against the roof of the car again, "All-fucking-most, Pierce, almost!"

_Jesus Christ, just let us make it -_

"SHIT!" Pierce cursed as a lone missile came barreling straight towards the hood of the car. He swerved sharply just as it made its impact in the concrete, but the shockwave from the explosion was enough to send the already unsteady vehicle spinning right out of control and straight over the edge.

Andreaya gripped the dashboard tight as the hearse made a sickening nosedive, the waters beneath almost appeared black. She wasn't even registering that Pierce was screaming at her to undo her seatbelt, her mind had gone entirely blank for those few seconds.

'_Bloody fucking hell!_' She thought in irritation, her stomach and her heart seemed to be shaking hands at the moment and making a voyage into her esophagus. The fall seemed endless, like dropping right off a precipice straight into a bottomless abyss. Distantly, Pierce was calling her but she wasn't paying attention to what he was saying.

"Boss, are you fuckin' listening to me, we need to get -"

_SPLASH._

The hearse plunged straight into the chilly waters, the initial force was enough to cause her to body jerk forward and the only stopping force was her seatbelt itself.

Andreaya sighed, absently undoing her seatbelt as water began to flood the inside of the vehicle. "Pierce, y'know, I always wanted to be a mermaid when I was little."

The chocolate-skinned man flashed her a glare, "You're gonna be fish food if we don't get the fuck out this car before we drown!"

"Bitch, bitch, bitch…" She muttered, taking a deep breath and opening the door as she and her lieutenant began to make the swim towards the surface. The dark waters looked even darker, she glanced below with a faint curiosity and the hearse was barely visible.

Her lungs began to sting; How deep did the car even sink in such a short time? It seemed that they were only underwater for less than a few seconds. Andreaya redoubled her effort, kicking her feet faster although with a bit of strain given that her boots were so heavy, to the faint glowing light above.

It didn't seem like she was anywhere near it, the freezing water was starting to make her feel somewhat numb. Sluggish maybe? Shit, was she even anywhere near the fucking surface at all?

Something gripped her hand, firmly, giving her a rough pull upwards before her dark head breached the surface as she gasped for air.

Oleg.

"Thanks big guy." Andreaya sputtered, pushing her sodden hair off of her face. She squinted in the darkness for any signs of her crew, "God Jesus, Shaundi, Pierce! Fuck is everyone ok?"

Pierce surfaced a few feet away from her along with the body of some masked idiot who was no doubt riding with the green fucks that attacked them. "Yeah, I'm good Boss." He glanced at the body, jerking the head above water with a sneer, "Dunno who these guys are but they float pretty good."

Shaundi had swam over, her dark brown hair drenched and a very formidable scowl on her face. "I don't fucking believe this!"

Andreaya could almost feeling the anger radiating off of her, "Shaundi, are you ok -"

"_Okay?_ Of course I'm not fucking okay!" She screamed shrilly, rapping a fist across the choppy waters. "We just got attacked during Johnny's _fucking funeral!_"

Andreaya sighed, "Its not like I know who the fuck they are…"

"Killbane." Oleg said calmly as the three Saints gave him a blank look.

"Kill what?" Andreaya repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Killbane." He stated again looking at her levelly, "Killbane is the Syndicate's attack dog. No doubt he's taking things into his own hands since you've killed Loren."

"And these jolly green pussies?" Pierce patted the back of the floating thug.

"His Luchadores." The titan responded with a shake of his head. "They aren't much on brains, they are the brawn of the operation."

"That'll make fucking them up more fun." The Boss said darkly as she cracked her knuckles, "Killbane huh? Sounds like as much of a bitch as Loren."

Oleg shook his head, "Killbane may be nothing but brawn but he's certainly no idiot."

"What he did," Shaundi said icily, her face going red and voice beginning to strain, "was completely out of fucking line! Who would do something so fucking awful?"

"He does not care about feelings or for rules. He does as he pleases whenever is most convenient for him."

"So no rules either?" Andreaya mused with a grimace, "That's just fine. I don't follow rules my damn self."

Oleg gave her a flat look, "You are not ready to face him."

"Fuck you mean I'm not ready?"

"Simply that. You are not ready. You will need help." He said firmly, "I know some people who oppose the Syndicate as much as you do…if not more."

"Just gimme the names and we'll do the rest."

"There's a high possibility they will be in need of rescuing." Oleg said seriously, "The Syndicate is known for making strong opposition disappear." His face was suddenly stern, "Especially with the way you are now and the current position that the Saints are in, you do not have nearly enough resources to keep up a fight against him or the Syndicate."

Andreaya shook her head, "Well they're about to make a grand disappearance. Give me the names."

"Kinzie Kensington, Angel de la Muerte and a pimp who only goes by the name of Zimos."

Pierce gave the giant a shocked look, "We're goin' after a pimp for fuck's sake? Jesus take the wheel."

"I don't give a fuck as long as we take this asshole down." Shaundi muttered angrily, her face twisted in a scowl. "These people had better not be shady."

Oleg nodded at her in assurance, "Fret not, as long as they know your intentions are good, they should not cause you any problems."

Andreaya punched her fist with her hand, "Let's get a fucking move on, then."

**-XXXXXXXX-**

"Are you sure that this is a good idea Boss? I mean, we still dunno if we can even trust these people." Shaundi said disdainfully, her arms folded over her bosom and her eyes narrowed.

"Its all we've got right now." Andreaya replied shortly, tossing a Krukov into the backseat of the purple Infuego. "I'm certain we can take Oleg's word for this one."

"And if he's lying?" Her lieutenant's tone was skeptical.

"Lets just hope he isn't."

"Seriously?" The brunette snapped, "You're just gonna go out on a limb and just assume -"

"Shaundi, for fuck's sake!" Andreaya faced the other woman with a fierce glare, "I don't wanna hear this shit right now, alright?"

Shaundi eyed her but said nothing, fixating her green-eyed gaze out the window at one of the miscellaneous skyscrapers that were abundant throughout Sunset Park.

Andreaya was glad for the quiet for now, at least she could attempt to reorganize her thoughts and prepare herself to hunt down the first target as suggested by Oleg.

Kinzie Kensington as he had mentioned, was being held on a boat offshore from New Colvin somewhere, and as to be expected it would be guarded. So after making the long swim back to Steelport, she made a post-haste stop back at HQ to acquire some fresh clothes and weapons.

But Shaundi's irritable attitude and sudden pessimism was starting to wear thin on the tenacious leader's nerves. The entirety of all that came out the other woman's mouth was distrust and skepticism.

As if she didn't have enough things on her mind, now it was Shaundi being negative. Pierce was right, the negativity thing really had to stop.

Andreaya ran her hand through her hair, exhaling sharply through her nose in annoyance. Her heart longed for Stilwater and to be done with everyone and everything, but instead she was right back where she started.

It was almost like a curse.

The passenger door opened quickly as Pierce slipped into the seat with a few extra pistols and another Krukov in his lap. He suddenly became pensive, sensing the peculiar tension in the car.

"Uh, you guys ready for this?" He asked somewhat uncertainly.

"Ready to get the fuck out of here or ready to trust some people we don't know?" Shaundi responded derisively, a direct jab at their leader who cast her an annoyed look in the mirror.

Andreaya started the car without a word, she'd deal with Shaundi's attitude problem later. Right now her focus was on the road, to get to the docks and acquire a boat. She figured it would be smarter to go to one that was en route to their destination, and a few blocks from the HQ there was a Rim Jobs with a docking bay behind it.

Pierce noted the Boss' blank face and oddly careful driving and Shaundi's irritable glare in the mirror every so often. Even after they had arrived at the docks and he had pointed out the lone speedboat tied to its post, neither woman had spoken a single word to each other, which only meant one thing.

A catfight was going to ensue soon.

He plopped in the front seat of the watercraft after having offered to drive, Andreaya sat in the passenger's and Shaundi in the back. It only took him a few seconds to hotwire the boat before its engine roared to life and he shifted the gear and sped off away from the docks.

"We know anything about this Kinzie chick?" He spared a quick glance at Andreaya as she traced her fingers over the cold steel of her Shepards.

She shrugged, "Oleg said she's some former FBI agent."

"Wait, we're gonna be teaming up with the feds?"

"I said, _former_."

"Whatever, still worked with the fuzz." He scoffed as he twisting the steering wheel, "Fuck's her deal?"

"Supposedly she got dropped after some dirt got leaked on her about some real personal shit." Andreaya sighed rubbing at her temples, "Not sure the specifics, but it must've been pretty bad if you got kicked out the fucking FBI."

"I'll say. Like did she make a porno or something?"

"What the hell makes you think I know what she did?" she snapped, "For fuck's sake it doesn't matter, lets just find her already and be done."

Pierce squinted through the darkness as the boat bounced a little, the waters were rather choppy. "Well shit, if she's supposed to be a fucking FBI agent or whatever, how the fuck did she even get caught?"

"Dunno unless fighting ain't her strong suit."

"Is she even useful at all?" Shaundi's voice suddenly rose over the engine and the whipping winds.

Andreaya nodded slightly, "She's supposed to be a hacker, a really good one."

Shaundi shrunk back in her seat, "I wouldn't feel too comfortable with someone like that around. She could dig up anything on you if she really wanted to….like, _anything_."

"Shit, now that you're sayin' it I wouldn't want someone like that around neither." Pierce said in agreement, his face wrinkled in thought. "Probably trying to look up your background info and shit, family history, fuckin' dental records or something."

Andreaya let out an exasperated groan, "For the love of God, what would you two rather have? Her with us or fucking against us, leaking our shit to the Syndicate?"

Her two lieutenants mumbled something, sounding much like "with us" although they still seemed unsure. Hell, she was uncertain her damn self but they didn't need to know that.

But what if they were right?

Andreaya wrinkled her nose as a few flecks of water hit her face and she narrowed her eyes. Just ahead in the distance, right under one of the drawbridges there was a white boat. A large one.

"Is that the boat?" Pierce furrowed his brow, "I thought Oleg was talking like…a yacht or a cruise ship or something."

"That seems like a lot, given these few details about her." Andreaya said dryly, checking her guns and sliding them into their respective holsters. "I mean…if she was really that dangerous, she wouldn't need to be rescued she could just save herself."

"Yeah, I guess. But nerdy motherfuckers don't get out much, I know that."

"Goddamit, Pierce, you wanna slow the fuck down? We're coming up too fast!" Shaundi shouted, her hands gripping the back of his headrest.

Pierce pulled the gear and made a grunt, the stick wouldn't budge. "Oh fuck me, you serious?"

"Fuck you do?!" Andreaya hissed, already noting that the boat was suddenly getting closer and closer and they weren't slowing down at all.

"Slow the fuck down!" Shaundi shrieked, clinging to the seat tighter than before.

"Goddamit, the fuckin' gear is stuck I can't -" Pierce bit the inside of his cheek as the boat jumped the back of the other ship, crash landing right on top of a stack of crates and containers. He groaned, tasting blood in the back of his mouth and a loose piece of skin on the inside of his cheek.

"One job…" Andreaya muttered sourly as she rubbed her forehead, "You had one fucking job, Pierce. One."

"Guys? Can we not start this now?" The brunette hissed, drawing her gun as the few members aboard the ship began to open fire at their beached boat.

Andreaya ducked in her seat, the boat teetering precariously on top of the containers as she drew her guns. There was a dull ache in her the back of her head, a migraine no doubt that would be kicking her ass later, at least she took her pills today.

The windshield cracked and shattered spraying glass all over the seats, and she had dimly noted that Pierce had already abandoned his seat and got out the boat.

"Fuck me, fuck, fucking, fuckery fuck, fuck, fuck." She cursed, her abused ribcage burning a bit as she heaved herself out the boat and onto the ship, a sharp pain throbbing in her kneecaps as having underestimated the height of her jump.

A flash of bright blue caught her eye as some neon goon aimed his SMG at her before suddenly howling in pain, his torso being painted with red as bullets made their exit through his back and clattering to the floor.

Shaundi stood perched on top of one of the crates, triumphantly with a smile as she looked down at her leader. "You back from la-la land yet? Cuz you almost got your ass shot."

"Tee-hee." The dark haired woman responded sarcastically, forcing herself to move through the open crate as she braced herself for the remainder of the onslaught.

A british accent reached her ears, approaching her direction before a mug with spiked hair ran straight into her arms and was turned into a makeshift shield. He struggled, vehemently, as she twisted his arm painfully behind his back and pushed forward and his comrades opened fire.

The bullets began to pelt the metal plating of his chest guard, but one sole bullet had popped him right between the eyes, his knees buckled and he toppled forward as Andreaya opened fire. Her Blossoms rattled in her hands, a quarter of the clips empty as she took down enemy after enemy that entered her line of sight.

She noted that they had all congregated around the front of the ship, a few extras lingering towards the bullet-ridden staircase.

"They brought reinforcements!" Pierce shouted somewhere distantly, his Krukov rattling away at the dark waters as a few Deckers began to circle the ship on the small Sharks.

"Take them out goddamit!" Andreaya shouted back as she began to make her way up the staircase, her side was beginning to throb again. Shit.

It wasn't until she reached the top of the staircase and almost began to curse her luck that the captive wasn't there did she notice that the door to the captain's quarters was ajar.

There was a girl, bound and gagged on the floor and judging by the FBI hoodie she was sporting, it was a no-brainer as to who she was. Andreaya sighed, calmly walking over and removing the restraints as the redheaded woman stared at her suspiciously.

"Kinzie Kensington, right?" The Boss asked with mild interest, observing how the other woman's posture suddenly became stiff.

"Who are you?" She quipped back defensively, her freckled brow furrowing.

"I was expecting a 'thanks for saving me' or something of that nature, y'know?" Andreaya replied flatly, "I'm the leader of the Saints and I've been told you'd be of some assistance to me."

The short redheaded woman gave her a flat look, "Oh, well gee, thanks for saving me although I had absolutely no goddamn idea someone was going to rescue me at all." Her voice rose slightly, "I was so overwhelmed with gratitude that I almost didn't make sure that you were out to kill me."

Andreaya's eye twitched and automatically she felt the impulse to call the girl a geek. Which would probably suit her. Squared glasses, freckles, slouchy ensemble and her hair was scraped into a low messy bun. Sounded pretty accurate.

But alas, she didn't need any new enemies added to the roster, so that wouldn't be the polite way to go about making friends here.

"Ok…look. I'm kind of pressed for time here and the introduction shit will have to wait alright? I came to save you because I've been told you could help me take down the Syndicate."

Kinzie's face suddenly came alight with interest, "I mean, I can help you, but I'm still not sure if I can trust you or not."

Andreaya gave her a blank look, "For fuck's sake, I just saved you. Lets start there and lets get going."

The redhead opened her mouth to say something before Pierce and Shaundi suddenly entered the enclosed space. Pierce looked Kinzie up and down with a tip of his hat, "Oh damn. You really are the nerdy type after all, huh?"

Kinzie glared at him, "Excuse me?"

"I'm just sayin'. Heard you were some hacker and shit, but I didn't think that you'd actually look like someone who don't go outside much."

Shaundi slapped her forehead, "Pierce, for fuck's sake -"

"And I supposed some pampered, pompous wannabe celebrity is going to take down the Syndicate with his lack of charm and despondent charisma skills?" She hissed, folding her arms over her bosom and tapping her foot. "This isn't high school and I am not a nerd, I am a technology enthusiast and yes hacking is one of my best necessary attributes. If you have a problem with it, you can shove it up your rectum."

Pierce stared at her blankly for a moment before his brown furrowed, "Do you come with subtitles?"

Andreaya groaned aloud, pushing past the bickering children and storming outside to locate any undamaged watercrafts.

It was about to be such a long night.

* * *

Lord. Here you guys go, I took forever writing this, I know. I'm sorry. Read and review?


End file.
